


Forest of Arcana

by RawrRoarRawr



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Drama, F/F, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Monsters, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Puzzles, Romance, i been told this is slow-burn so slow-burn it is, idk how to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:08:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23734369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RawrRoarRawr/pseuds/RawrRoarRawr
Summary: Not everything good profited from the return of the Grand Triskellion. With an ancient curse taking over Luna Nova, Akko and Diana are suddenly tasked to retrieve the cure deep within the lost Forest of Arcana, a labyrinth filled with puzzles, traps, and monsters. Along with their contrasting skills and personalities, both will have to figure out the long way how to make it work.
Relationships: Diana Cavendish & Atsuko "Akko" Kagari, Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari
Comments: 107
Kudos: 152





	1. Rosea Plaga

**Author's Note:**

> I have been finally convinced to join AO3 to put my stubborn, begrudging soul to rest. Please forgive me as I try to adapt. Follow me on Tumblr at RawrRoarRawr/RawrRoarArt (my more lwa side-blog at the moment)

"Prepare to be amazed!"

Akko cleared her throat and readied her wand. She closed her eyes and concentrated, focusing as much magical energy as she could into her incantation. "Metamorphie Faciesse!" Sparkles of green erupted from the head and engulfed her, immediately transforming her into a small crimson crow that took off into the air in an instant, leaving behind a trail of dust.

A spring breeze weaved its way through the branches of a large tree, a now lone girl at the base of its trunk, sipping a cup of tea as she watched the performance before her. A recently abandoned book now rest in her lap, closed. Diana's eyes carefully traced Akko's fast, but short, flight as Akko quickly transformed into another shiny animal, a blue deer, and leapt through the air with a smile on her face.

It was a cool evening, the sun ever so slowly falling towards the edge of the land, leaving the two witches in a warm basking sunlight. Luna Nova stood tall in the far background, the two having flown a small distance away for privacy (as per Akko's request) and set up a picnic of sorts underneath a single tree resting on top of a hill.

Spurts of firework-like-magic boomed around Akko wherever she went, adding flashiness and color towards her show. She transformed into many animals, one after the other (some an oddly mixture of multiple animals at once) and did as many colorful spells as she could. At some point Akko changed back into a human and grabbed a hold of her broom, sweating as she concentrated on standing on top of it. Her flying was slow, shaky, and only a few inches off of the floor, but with her determination, and even her tongue sticking out as if it would help in balance, Akko successfully made her way around the tree, earning a small applause and, surprisingly, a very small and rare chuckle from the stronger witch.

When Akko returned to the front of the makeshift "stage," she hovered on her broom and bowed. "And for my final act!" Her wand was raised high over her head again as she prepared the next spell, "Undam unda!" She squeezed her eyes shut and hoped for the best, fully anticipating the sounds of astonishment and another cheer.

Diana's eyes widened as a mass of water appeared over their heads. It was double the size of the tree with the shape of a giant bubble, menacingly casting a shadow as it loomed over them. Before she could reach for her wand on her sash to do something about it, the big bubble of water fell and crashed down, squashing Akko into the grass while Diana was protected from its strength from an overhead branch. Still, she was soaked, and, more importantly, her tea was ruined. "Akko…"

Akko removed her face from the ground, her eyes swirling in circles from the dizzying hit of her forehead. "It's a… work in… progress…!" She was now coated in mud but didn't seem to care as she shook her head and got back on her feet with a big cheeky grin spreading across her face. Again, she raised her wand, this time in a triumphant pose instead of for preparation. "How was that for the developing show of _Shiny Akko_!"

Diana pushed the wet locks of green and blonde hair out of her face with a sigh, taking her wand and swirling it in a small circle that casted a spell that effectively began to dry her. "Well… supposing we are putting aside that final spell of yours," She took a small pause to judge the show, "It was… good" Diana smiled, "For a work in progress, _of course_." She investigated her cup of tea that was now just filled with water and sadly poured it onto the grass.

Akko put her hands on her hips with a victorious smile before faltering to a frown after realizing a little too slow the underlying tease of Diana's tone. "Dianaaaaa" She whined, glumly slouching as she made her way to their picnic spot. Diana cast her a cleaning and drying spell as well, pouring them both a new cup of slightly-more-watery tea from a teapot and handing one to her. "Can't you be a little nicer?" Akko pouted as she plopped down onto the floor and took a big gulp out of her teacup.

Diana held a relaxed and soft smile as she reworded herself and provided her critique. "I can say I enjoyed it, even up to nearly being drowned. The silliness of your performance is what I believe makes it very unique to you. With more polishing and practice, mainly on your flying and _spells you have never used before,_ " She sharply emphasized the last few words with a glare, earning an awkward chuckle and head scratch, "It'll be a great performance that I'm sure others will love to see." Diana finished her statement and took a sip from her cup, grimacing from the lack of taste.

Akko gave a satisfied smile in response, "Alright!" She fist-pumped the air and took another drink. It wasn't often that Diana complimented her, especially after a spell gone wrong.

"By the way," Diana started, pouring her tea into Akko's now empty cup and then pouring herself a new batch from the teapot in hopes that it would be different. "Why did you choose me to show your first performance? Surely your friends would have been a more reasonable option?"

Akko stared at her as if the answer to her question was the most obvious answer in the world, "Because you're a Shiny Chariot fan, duh! What better way to get good at something Shiny Chariot related than with a fellow _Shiny Chariot nerd_?"

"Don't call me that." Diana held her head with a sigh, glancing at Akko gleefully humming and dancing (and clearly ignoring her) from her earlier compliment. "What exactly were you attempting to do with that spell anyway?"

Akko perked up at the question with a big grin, "Remember that wave of water from Shiny Chariot's show? I thought I was going to drown, but it turns out it wasn't really water! That was _so cool!_ I want to learn _that_!"

"Falsundam unda."

"Eh?"

"The spell. You were missing a part."

Akko stared blankly at her wand for a few seconds before breaking out into a huge grin. She hopped to her feet and ran out into the field and readied her wand. A determined look came across her face as she focused, her eyebrows narrowing and her cheeks puffing to hold her breath.

Diana smiled at the sight and relaxed, looking down in her lap to the closed navy-blue book, intricately designed with vines and flowers. It wasn't the least bit wet, storing its own magical properties that seemed to protect it from harm. Though, this wasn't of any shock to her as most noteworthy books in Luna Nova were laced with magic in the first place. What did catch her interest was _why_ she had this book, and what contents the book seemed to hold.

She opened the book to where a bookmark lay only a few pages in, from when she had chosen to pay attention to Akko's show instead. From there Diana picked back up where she left off, studying the words of the pages as she moved along. About fifteen minutes passed as she made steady progress, and it took a single picture spreading across two pages for her to stop.

The picture was a detailed drawing of a forest from a viewpoint looking down, almost as if it were a miniature map. She gently ran her fingers across the page, following along the layout of the forest. Frustratingly enough, the middle of the forest was stuck in the crevice of the book and thus unviewable, causing her to question whose idea it was to design it in such a way. It was then that she looked to the top of the page to see a name scribbled across, "Forest of Arcana…" She unknowingly mumbled out loud.

"-anaaaaaaa."

Diana turned the page, knowing that what followed was information about the forest that was presented. She read slow, trying to look for anything laced in the words that should be taken of note. Why was this book given to her?

"-ianaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

Diana flipped a few pages ahead in the book to see where the section of the Forest of Arcana ended. It was only about five pages, much shorter than any other sections in the book. She turned the pages back to the first part and focused. Confusingly enough, a mass of brown slowly began to cover the words until she was staring straight into a pair of crimson eyes.

"Diana!" Akko was pouting with annoyance, upside-down to fit her head onto the book to get Diana's attention. Her arms were crossed, further expressing her lack of patience.

Diana blinked a few times to gather her thoughts before softly smiling, "Ah, I apologize. Yes, Akko?"

Akko got off the book and back upright on her feet, her arms still crossed as she stared down. Her annoyance had disappeared already, leaving behind a restless frown instead. "I've been trying the spell for _ages_! Nothing happens when I chant! Here, watch!" She ran back to the field and pointed her wand, "Falsumdam unda!" Nothing happened and she pulled at her hair in frustration.

Diana put her hand to her chin in thought, watching Akko kick the dirt in defeat. "It's an 'N', Akko. Falsu _n_ dam unda. Not 'M'."

Akko stared back at her wand in confusion, scratching her head and then pointing it again. "Falsu _n_ dam unda!" She emphasized as she was told. It was then that a small stream of water began pouring out of her wand. Akko gasped in amazement and smiled as if all her worries were gone. When she ran her hand through the stream, it came out perfectly dry like she hoped. "I did it!" She yelled running over to Diana to show her, "Yay!"

Diana watched as Akko excitedly ran around the tree with her stream of water. She held a proud smile at Akko's accomplishment and applauded, then returned to her place in the book.

"Whatcha reading?"

The holographic stream of water was now pouring on her head. Diana noted as it behaved exactly as water would, dripping down her face and onto the book despite it not being real. She looked up at Akko now leaning over to see what she was reading, while also holding the wand over her head for fun. "From what I gather, it's a book describing what else was either locked up, or inaccessible, due to the Grand Triskellion being sealed away." Again, her contemplation appeared on her face, "Professor Ursula gave this to me this morning."

"Eh? Professor Ursula did?" Akko leaned in closer to the book and squinted, judging its worth.

Diana nodded, "It was odd. She handed it to me and said to look for the section on the 'Forest of Arcana' without any other explanation then left." She looked back down at the pages to confirm she was on the right section. "The other sections of the book seem to be what has been taught in class thus far, such as, for example, Mana, but I don't think I've seen anything on this forest until now."

Akko tapped her chin in thought and tilted her head to the side. A big question mark seemed to appear above her head, "…M…Mana?" She wondered, looking up to the sky as if it would give her inspiration on what that even was.

Diana sighed and took a sip of tea from her teacup that had been resting on its saucer. "I believe we went over it the beginning of the semester, so I don't condemn you, Akko, for forgetting-"

"…H-Hey!" Akko puffed her cheeks, "You really didn't have to emphasize on my name!" She turned away with a 'hmph!,' earning the second laugh from the other witch and immediately forgot why she was angry in the first place. "So what's the deal with this old forest anyway?" With her eyes being closed from the pout, Akko cracked one open to look back at the book.

Diana hummed in thought, quickly reading over a few paragraphs to find a description. "The Forest of Arcana was a section of the Arcturus Forest. When the Grand Triskellion was sealed away, so was the entrance to this forest, leaving it locked away for many centuries. Though perhaps this is for the better." She read the lines word for word, pausing at the questionable sentence that gave chills to them both. "This forest was home to a large abundance of magical creatures, many of which are dangerous, and some, perhaps a fitting word, _monsters_. All of which locked away as well. If the forest were ever to return, be warned and stay clear."

Akko shivered and gulped at the words, listening intently to Diana speak. "Hey… isn't that basically just the Arcturus Forest?" She tilted her head in confusion, "Dangerous creatures and those who enter do not leave or some mumbo jumbo like that even though we had exited multiple times… What's so different about this forest?"

Diana stopped reading to look back up at her, "That is true. But I'm sure there is a reason Professor Ursula wanted me to read this. Shall we continue?"

Akko nodded, ending her water spell and making herself comfortable on the grass next to Diana. She scooted closer with a smile until practically leaning her weight against Diana's arm. "Ready!"

Diana pushed aside the thought of their proximity with a sigh, looking back at the book where her finger was resting on the line she had left off on. "If there is no choice but to enter the forest, or perhaps in a feeble attempt of pursuit of the greatest treasure," She read, "stay on guard at all times. Do not walk where your feet cannot see. Do not touch what should not be touched. Be aware of who you are. Trust your instincts. Use your mind. Trust your heart."

"Very vague."

"Agreed. Not helpful in the slightest."

"Agreed."

Diana rested her eyes, taking apart each word in her mind to try to understand. "I suppose this might've been written by someone with little experience with the forest. It feels more as if it is a story passed on by word of mouth from one generation to the next, leaving us in the present with little to nothing…"

Akko read ahead in the book with a nod, "It did say something about the 'greatest treasure'! I wonder what that's about." Immediately her imagination skyrocketed, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. "What if it's an _all you can eat buffet_?! A _lifetime_ all you can eat buffet?!" Her hands clasped together in joy, "A lifetime all you can eat _dessert_ buffet! No wait… Then that means we're only limited to desserts… -Okay, a lifetime all you can eat buffet with dessert! Wait isn't there already dessert at buffets…?" Akko tilted her head, confused, as she tried to remember. She seemed to drop it and jump to a different thought, drooling as she mumbled, "strawberry strudels… all sorts of pie… chocolate fountain… all sorts of tarts… cake!" Her stomach grumbled as she daydreamed.

Diana couldn't hold back a grin as she listened, "Akko, I really don't think something dubbed 'the greatest treasure' by magical beings will be a buffet…"

"Oh excuse me then! A _magical_ lifetime all you can eat buffet with dessert!" Akko teasingly stuck her tongue out. "Well then what does the _great_ and _mighty_ Diana Cavendish think 'the greatest treasure' is?"

Diana paused for a few seconds to think, "I'm not sure." She truthfully answered, "Something life changing, without a doubt. That's all I can say."

"Shiny Chariot limited edition wardrobe signed by Shiny Chariot herself back in the peak of her career."

"No."

The corners of Akko's mouth twisted up into a creepy grin as she jokingly jabbed her finger at Diana's cheek, "C'monn, like that wasn't the coolest thing ever that _everybody_ wanted! You're telling me that finally getting something like that wouldn't be life changing? Or is it that…" She faked a gasp, "You already have it?"

Akko's finger was swatted away as Diana gave an annoyed sigh, "First of all, something as materialistic and superficial as that would be an insult to be deemed 'the greatest treasure' for the past few _centuries_ when Shiny Chariot had yet to exist as well. Second, it sold out and my mother was unable to locate any of the holders."

Akko broke into a fit of laughter, "I tried to get it to! I cried in my room for three days straight!"

Diana smiled at the relatability, nodding as if she understood. She recalled back to Akko's earlier words and the sound of a grumbling stomach, "Are you hungry? Perhaps we should head back for dinner. It is getting a bit late."

The two looked towards the setting sun, finally having reached the edge of the land and leaving it in a golden and warm hue. As another breeze came, they sat and listened to the branches of trees sway and the chirps of birds that signaled night was approaching.

Akko looked back at the book with a shrug, "I am a little hungry, but we can finish the section if you'd like! Maybe there will be something on the treasure!"

Diana searched through the text of the of the chapter for any key words and landed on a spot. "Many in the past had attempted to obtain the greatest treasure, but to no avail. Be not with greed, and the treasure will reveal itself to you. Only those worthy of the gift will obtain it." She turned the page to see the section of the 'greatest treasure' had ended. Still, she continued reading as her interest in the forest grew, "The Forest of Arcana is also home to many rare herbs. Expeditions were sent in the past just to obtain these herbs to cure particular curses and diseases and the like. The closer to the center of the forest, the likelier chance of so called 'legendary' plants. In fact, the center holds the only cure to-"

It didn't take long for their peaceful evening to be completely ruined in less than a second. A blood curdling scream erupted from Luna Nova in the distance, causing the two witches to jump in their seats in fright. The birds in the forest acted first; flying from their branches and away from the school with chirps of terror as they dispersed into the distance. The two turned their eyes towards each other in alarm, quickly snapping out of their shock and standing onto their feet. Diana closed the book and shoved it into Akko's arms as she jumped onto her broom. While Akko did have her own broom, she instead jumped onto Diana's broom as well without hesitation or question.

"Tia Freyre!" Diana chanted and the two took off as quick as she could fly.

"What on earth was that?!" Akko clutched onto the book and Diana's waist in worry, not leaving Luna Nova out of her sight for even a second.

Diana's eyes were concentrated as she tried to get the broom to fly faster. "I don't know."

The screams did not stop.

* * *

Before the two had even landed at the entrance of the school, Akko jumped from the broom and ran in, Diana in close pursuit as she, too, abandoned the broom. Alarmingly enough, all who had been screaming seemed to have been abruptly quieted a few minutes ago. They both looked at each other and nodded, sprinting their way towards their rooms.

It was probably just something silly, right? And everyone was quieted down by the professors.

With Akko's dorm closer in distance, they skid to a stop in front the plain wooden door. It was weird. There was no talking or laughter coming from any of the rooms when normally at this hour everyone would be buzzing with excitement as dinner time approached. Perhaps everyone was called earlier for dinner?

It was when the two spotted pink fumes slowly seep out of the cracks of the door that worry and dread overwhelmed them again. As fear built up in Akko, leaving her with little time to think before she acted, Diana looked towards all the other doors that, too, began to leak pink. This wasn't one of Sucy's explosive experiments like she hoped. And somehow, Akko knew that too.

"SUCY! LOTTE!"

"Akko don't-!"

Akko immediately flung open the door to save her friends. The fume seemed to have been compacted in the small room for so long that when open air was available, it blasted outside like an explosion. Akko threw her arms in front of her eyes on reflex, anticipating whatever the smoke was to envelop her. When it didn't, she peeked her eyes open to see she was surrounded by a green magical barrier bubble.

Diana grunted from the sheer power of whatever the pink gas was. Her wand was raised to keep up the barrier, but already she was starting to shake and falter. "Akko…" She had trouble speaking as if she were out of breath, "Ple…ase don't move…"

Akko listened this time, her worry now shifting to the witch keeping them from danger. She reached for her own wand and cast the same barrier spell, hoping to at least give some form of support to ease the weight.

With a bit of the tension now released, Diana was able to look at their surroundings. It made no sense for gas to be putting so much pressure on them, so why was it so strong? Oddly enough, the gas didn't seem to dissipate, but rather continuously circle them as if it were trying to break in. Whatever the magical smoke was, it was too strong for them to handle, and _definitely_ too strong for any of the other students to handle.

"Sucy! Lotte!" Akko yelled again, tears in her eyes as she tried to get a response.

The gas did leave open gaps that allowed them to see outside, both mainly focused on the room that was now open.

When an opening cleared up, they could see both Lotte and Sucy unconscious in the room. Both were slumped against the beds on the floor as if they were trying to defend themselves but lost, and the pink fume was eerily entering and exiting through their mouth and eyes.

"It's taking their mana…!" Diana muttered, breathing heavily as her eyebrows furrowed with concern.

"Eh?! Mana?!" Akko looked back and forth between Diana and her room, fighting the urge to dash in and shake Sucy and Lotte until they woke up. "Sucy! Lotte!" She tried again, losing hope when they didn't move at all. "Sucy…" Tears fell. "Lotte…"

Diana winced and grunted again as the smoke pushed against them harder. The gas that had been in the other rooms was escaping, adding onto the force as it spun around them at a faster rate.

Akko wiped away the tears in her eyes, focusing on her support spell knowing there was no time to waste. "Back off you stupid gas!" She yelled, putting as much intensity into her spell as she could. "What even is this?!"

Diana only shook her head, "It…wants us…"

Akko grew frustrated, disliking seeing her friend at such a disadvantaged state. Diana was by far one of the strongest in the school, and seeing her struggle upset Akko to no end. She wanted to help, but her magic was still levels below Diana's in comparison, and it frustrated her.

"S…Sorr…y…" Diana fell to one knee and her spell began to weaken as she tried to catch her breath. The green bubble began to wobble, now mainly depending on Akko's spell instead.

Akko gasped at the sudden force placed on her, and she gave a battle cry as she focused the rest of her energy into their protection. _This_ is what Diana was dealing with?! There was no way she could keep it up for longer than a few more seconds. But still she tried, giving it her all and praying for a miracle.

"Impetus tempe _statis_!" A different voice bellowed loud and clear from a far distance.

Just before the barrier had given out, a blast of tornado-like wind blew through them, pushing the gas far behind and essentially freeing them. Akko fell to the floor, out of breath, both her and Diana heavily breathing as they looked for their savior.

Professor Ursula stood at the end of the hallway, her wand pointed and eyes burning with anger. From the sweat and heavy breathing, the two deduced that she had been running a long distance to get them. "Girls! This way!" She ordered without missing a beat.

Immediately Akko and Diana picked themselves up and ran. Passing her dorm room, Diana lowered her head seeing the same pink smoke escape through the door, but still she kept running.

* * *

"Professor Ursula! What's going on?!" Akko yelled as the three of them ran down the corridors, the pink smoke in close pursuit behind them.

"I'll explain later! We just need to get to my room!" They skid another corner and Professor Ursula's eyes narrowed as they headed straight for a cloud of pink in front of them. "Impetus tempestatis!" She chanted, blasting the gas with another strong gust of wind and clearing the path.

"Impetus tempestatis!" Diana mimicked the spell, using it to keep the smoke behind them at bay as well.

The smoke picked up speed at an alarming rate, forcing the two of them to chant one spell after another. They turned multiple corners, having to quickly change directions a numerous amount of times from the gas that surrounded them. The hallways felt repetitive at that point, as if they were just going in circles and would never reach their destination.

"Professor!" Akko cried out from a distance to get Professor Ursula's attention.

When Professor Ursula turned around, stress and pressure caused her to panic. They were so close to her room and now there was trouble at the most inopportune time. Both Akko and Diana were far down the hallway, Diana, in particular, collapsed onto her hands and knees from exhaustion. She was holding onto her chest, taking loud shaky breaths as if she were about to vomit.

Akko was kneeling beside her, trying to get her up without hurting her. She was panicking and her brain was going too fast for her to process anything that she slipped each time she tried to pick Diana up. Diana was also trying to get up to help her, but it was all too much to handle.

The pink smoke was right behind them then, barreling towards them at an impeccable speed that Akko shrieked and immediately threw herself in front of Diana to protect her. She threw her wand up just before the gas made an impact, casting a barrier spell and hoping for the best. Her barrier was an incomplete bubble and more like a wall, but doing so allowed her to put more magic into the smaller area.

"Impetus tempestatis!" Professor Ursula came to the rescue before the barrier gave out again. She was out of breath as she ran over, scooping Diana up into her arms (who managed a weak apology) and staring at Akko with a proud, hasty smile. "Can you still run?"

Akko didn't hesitate to give a firm nod despite the sweat dripping down her face.

Professor Ursula nodded back and the two ran with all their might.

* * *

When they finally reached Professor Ursula's tower, Professor Ursula ran in first and placed Diana down on the couch. She fumbled through her shelves, knocking over a numerous number of experimental potions and bottles in her search.

Akko slammed the door behind her and sunk to the floor, desperately trying to catch her breath. She watched as Professor Ursula ran back to Diana with a small flask with green liquid that she recognized as a healing potion.

Professor Ursula held up Diana's head as she poured in the potion and laid her back down. She ushered Akko over to also cast a continuous healing spell which Akko did without question. Then she ran to another part of the room in search of something else. "She exhausted herself." Professor Ursula explained, hoping to ease Akko's tension and worry.

Akko sat by the edge of the couch, watching as Diana's breathing settled to normal. She gave a sigh of relief, continuing her weak healing spell as she looked back to Professor Ursula in confusion. "What's going on?" Akko asked again now that their situation was less dire. She cast her head down, "Sucy… Lotte… are they-?"

"They'll be fine. I promise." Professor Ursula gave a weak smile in attempts of comfort, looking through her bookshelf by throwing aside anything she wasn't looking for. "I believe I gave Diana a book to read earlier today."

"Ah," Akko now recalled the book that was once in her arms, now likely dropped by the dorms. "I… dropped it…"

"Did she read it at least?"

"Most of it. We looked through it together."

"Then that's fine. I just wanted the two of you to gain some sort of understanding of this beforehand at the least."

Akko scratched her head in confusion, "But Professor, it was talking about some 'Forest of Arcana,' not this killer creepy pink smoke thing!"

Professor Ursula nodded in confirmation, stuffing two already partially filled brown backpacks with some healing potions and other items in her vicinity. "The pink gas after us is an ancient contagious curse known as _Rosea Plaga_. I'm not sure if you two read that far in the section, but the only cure for Rosea Plaga is an herb at the heart of the Forest of Arcana." She ran to another section of her room with the two backpacks, throwing in what looked like prepackaged food.

It was then that Diana sat up (despite Akko's attempts to get her to lay back down and rest), holding her head as she listened to the conversation. "It was taking their mana." She brought up, hoping to get some answers.

Professor Ursula gave a solemn nod at her observation, "It's a curse that slowly drains magic users of their mana to increase its range until it's too late. While non magic users are safe with their lack of mana, you understand the problems this could cause for the world in the long run."

Diana had a grim look on her face at the words, while Akko looked back and forth between the two to try to understand.

"As a prominent and strong witch school, we were most likely to have an epidemic first than any of the other schools." Professor Ursula was now at her desk, unpinning a sort of map tacked to a board and folding it up. Along with the map, she folded up a detailed drawing of some plant and stuck it in one of the backpacks and zipped them up, tossing them both in Akko's direction. "There wasn't a need for defense before Yggdrasil, and all of the professors have been working hard since the return of magic to ensure that we were protected, but…" An uneasy sigh escaped her lips as she finally turned her attention to them.

Akko fumbled with catching the backpacks and stared at them. She looked where Professor Ursula had first picked up the backpacks, seeing a few more backpacks that she guessed were originally planned to have been filled as well. "Professor… where are we going?"

Diana also looked at the backpacks with confusion, trying not to put two and two together. "And where are the other professors?"

Professor Ursula sighed again, hesitation and worry evident in her eyes as she stared at the younger students. "Some of the professors were caught by surprise. The other professors are currently working on containment. The curse will not spread, and no student will lose all their mana, I promise. So…"

She bowed her head at them and they both opened their mouths in shock. "I have a favor to ask the two of you." Her eyes were shut, but her resolution was fierce.

Diana and Akko said nothing, already at a loss of words by her actions. Taking that as her cue to speak, she continued, "The original plan was to get together a small powerful team to take on the forest and retrieve the cure before the epidemic even started, but with the ages and difficulty of the other witches, it arrived much sooner than expected before any preparations were made. Both of your participation was supposed to be purely voluntary, but now it seems we'll need to depend on you instead."

Akko clutched onto the backpacks in worry, "But Professor, what about you?"

Professor Ursula paused, upset. "I'm sorry. While that would be ideal, with our small amount of magic users left, I need to aid in the incantation to contain our school." She continued bowing with her eyes shut, bracing herself for any opposition the two students might have. "I'm sorry, I know it's unfair, but please."

There was a tense silence that followed that made seconds feel like hours.

"Professor Ursula…" Diana's voice began, "Please raise your head."

When Professor Ursula looked up, she was not met with frustration and anger like she expected, but instead a determined smile from Akko and a focused unreadable calmness from Diana.

Akko held up a fist as she grinned, "I'll take any opportunity to save my friends!" She turned to Diana with a cute pout as if asking her to follow along with her plans.

Diana looked at her with a sigh, "Another world-saving adventure…"

Akko batted her eyelashes, knowing fully well there was no way Diana would turn down this quest despite her skeptical attitude.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Aw c'monnnnnnn, Diana!"

"It's unnerving. Stop it."

Professor Ursula watched the two of them bicker and tease each other despite the dangerous mission she was entrusting to them. It was odd, their lightheartedness, as if knowing there was an opportunity to save people immediately pushed aside their fear and worry. Her mouth slowly pulled up into a weird smile and she couldn't hold back her laugh.

Akko, who had been poking Diana in the cheek, stopped to look at Professor Ursula with bewilderment. Diana, who had been swatting away attempts Akko made to poke her cheek, also stopped to look at Professor Ursula with bewilderment.

_Of course_ , they would take any opportunity to save as many people as they could. They were like that after all. Professor Ursula covered her mouth as she continued laughing, and all her worry of them antagonizing her disappeared.

When Professor Ursula calmed down not too long after, Diana nodded her head to her as confirmation, "Please take care of our friends. We'll be back with the herb as soon as possible."

Professor Ursula stood up straight with a proud smile at her students and nodded back. She wiped a few tears away from her eyes and sniffed, holding up a finger to begin her brief lecture, "First, the forest prohibits the use of brooms to fly. You'll have to get to the center on your feet. It's known as a forest to test worthiness, and only those truly capable will obtain their reward." Another finger was put up, "Second, pay attention to your mana at all times. Only use magic in dire situations for preservation. You wouldn't want to be faced with a dangerous enemy with low mana." A final finger was put up, "Third," She gave a soft smile at the two of them, "believe in each other. It'll be difficult at times, but I know the two of you can make it in the end."

Akko and Diana put on the backpacks and smiled back at her.

* * *

"I need to go now before it's too late. Do you two have everything you need?"

Diana looked around the room for anything of use, landing her eyes on Professor Ursula's crescent shaped broom. "We do need a means of transportation to the forest."

Professor Ursula also looked at her broom in thought, "This broom is peculiar to me and won't behave the way as expected. You may take it, but be warned." She took it from its place resting on the wall, blowing off the remnants of dust from its lack of use.

Diana put a hand to her chin in thought as well, "Perhaps just until we find a student broom then; to escape the fumes."

Professor Ursula nodded and handed it to her; Akko's eyes sparkling at the modified broom with 'ooo's and 'aaa's.

The three of them looked out the door window for the deadly smog, watching as it slowly circled around the door as if they were prey.

"Stand back, girls."

Diana and Akko ran a little further back into the room, mounting the broom and anticipating their chance to escape.

"Akko stop squeezing so hard, I can't breathe…"

"Sorry, I'm nervous! This is scary!"

Professor Ursula gripped the door handle with one hand and her wand in the other, looking back at the two girls. Oh how far they've come along. "Are you ready?" She couldn't help but smile, knowing they would come back with the mission accomplished, just as they have before.

Diana and Akko nodded at the same time. A gust of wind started swirling around the broom as Diana prepared her incantation. Their hair was fluttering, and magic danced around them as the broom got ready for takeoff.

Professor Ursula grinned and threw open the door. "Impetus tempestatis!"

"Tia Freyre!"

She watched as they took off like a rocket out into the school. "Good luck you two. Be safe, and take care of each other."

* * *

"It's coming! Go faster!"

"Don't you think I _would_ if I could?!"

"What if I cast the spell also?! Like a big ol boost to our speed!"

"Do not!"

"I'm gonna do it!"

"I will throw you off this broom before the 'T' escapes your mouth!"

Diana bit her lower lip, trying to think of any escape routes that hadn't been covered with smog. The windows were covered in pink, and behind them the smoke was just barely touching the bristles of the broom. While they were moving at an incredible speed, Diana couldn't fly as fast as she was able. It was rocky, occasionally bumping along through the air as if they were driving on uneven pavement. But she had to make it work regardless of the mechanics of the broom.

"That way!" Akko pointed in a direction that led to a spiral staircase yet to be overrun with smoke. They both knew it led to the tallest tower in Luna Nova, and was really their last escape route if the gas wasn't up there already.

Diana drifted the broom around the corner, speeding off towards the staircase and flying up.

Akko yelped with the smoke so close to touching her, squeezing as close to Diana as she could.

While the trap door to the tower top was closed, Diana didn't slow down as she aimed right for it.

Thankfully, it burst right open on impact at the expense of the handle design of Professor Ursula's broom. (She wouldn't mind, right?)

Now out in the night sky, the crisp of the open fresh air let them relax for the split second before the gas followed right after them. They were flying up, trying to shake it off their trail before it could follow them off school grounds. From their perspective, they could see Luna Nova completely overtaken by the smog to the point that it just looked as if their school was pink.

"What now?!" Akko tried to yell out through the rush of the wind.

"We need a new broom, this one's too slow!"

From all angles of their broom, the gas surrounded them forcing Diana to have to try to weave their way around. The broom dove and rose, swiveled and turned, but still they were unable to get away.

"I found yours!" Akko pointed down to the front of the school doors where Diana's broom had been abandoned earlier.

Diana struggled to keep them from harm, trying to figure out a plan to get them to the broom on the floor. The smoke was all around them now, nearly blocking all openings of escape. She plunged the tip of the broom at a downwards angle, forcing the both of them to brace themselves from the steepness as they plummeted. The smog followed right behind and they were racing against the gas speeding up and circling them. There was no way they were going to make it…

"Diana! Let go of the broom!"

"Huh?!"

"Trust me!"

Diana released her hands from the broom at the words, hoping whatever Akko had planned was worth it.

Before she could even react, Akko immediately picked her up and threw her off the side and then proceeded to jump after her.

Akko gave her a thumbs up and a wink as they began freefalling their way to the ground now not too far below.

_What?!_ Diana was flabbergasted. Too shocked to even begin yelling at how _completely_ _insane_ Akko was. Maybe going on this mission was a mistake…? Despite her shock, she noticed as the smoke above crashed against each other and swallowed the broom. It quickly slowed down after that and dispersed, and the broom fell out as well. Why was it barely chasing them now?

"Diana!" Akko pointed behind her in panic.

Diana snapped her attention towards the grass getting closer and she pointed her wand out towards the nearby broom, casting a levitation spell. It zipped towards her in an instant and the moment it touched her fingertips she chanted "Tia Freyre!" and mounted.

Akko held out her arm for Diana to catch her and the two zoomed out towards the leyline gate. While the smoke did pick up speed to chase them again, by then they were already too far and out of its radius.

Akko looked out towards the pink school slowly getting farther away with a solemn smile. "Everyone… " She spotted Professor Ursula standing in the field about a few yards away from the school with a powerful incantation lighting up the surrounding floor around her. Her red hair was blowing in the wind as if it were a flame dancing in the air. At whatever the chants final words were, Professor Ursula threw her arm up and pointed her wand towards the sky, a bright blue light emitting from it and hitting the clouds like a beacon. Akko and Diana watched as more of the lights appeared around the circumference of the school in a circle, likely from the remaining professors.

Professor Ursula turned her head and spotted them, giving an apologetic smile and a wink as the spell took over.

Before they could blink, the entire school and pink smog in the circle of the spell transformed into an icy blue crystal, Professor Ursula frozen in her apologetic smile until their hopeful return.

They didn't look back.


	2. Into the Unknown

"How did you know?"

"Eh?"

"The curse. It stopped chasing us when we abandoned the broom."

The flight had been silent up until then. The green of the leyline moved slow as they made their way through. From the events that transpired a few minutes ago, neither of them had been in the mood to talk.

Akko took her time to think, trying to differentiate her sad thoughts with her answer. "Umm, if I'm being honest it was just a guess." She gave an awkward laugh, unable to see Diana's expression from her point of view. When she was met with silence, Akko decided to continue, "I just thought that since it was attracted to this 'mana' thing, and 'mana' gives it power, and I'm guessing magic _is_ power, then it's attracted to magic!" She was having trouble putting together her thoughts, but kept trying to ease the poor mood, "So then if it's attracted to magic what happens if we stop using magic? -I don't really know why I decided to jump off the broom, but I just felt it, you know? And it worked!"

Another silence.

Akko weakly laughed again and ultimately decided it was best to stop.

"…Good job."

It was quiet, and she almost brushed it off as one of her hopeful thoughts when she heard it, but the more she played it in her mind the truer it became. Akko beamed at the two words, her dampened spirits now a lot brighter than it was before. "What, you jealous? How's it feel being one-upped by your rival?!"

There was a short pause at her joke, almost causing her to hit herself for poor timing. Akko wasn't sure if making a joke was the best course of action, but it wasn't like the majority of her choices were the best course of action anyway. Still, she wished for a way to lift their spirits, even if for a little bit. Slowly slouching in her seat and looking away from Diana's head, Akko took a second to process the small shake of the witch she was holding onto and what it meant, and just like that a big toothy smile appeared back on her face.

"Oh? Tell me Akko, were you the one flying the broom? Casting the spells? While your quick thinking was impressive, considering you were basing off a guess, I'd hardly call it a feat to add into our non-existent rivalry." Diana didn't turn around to answer, but Akko could hear her loud and clear.

Diana's answer was cold. Each word jabbing through Akko's chest that it might've been an attack to her ego had it been said many months before. But this time, Akko's smile stuck to her face and she enjoyed the accepted invitation to break the silence.

Afterall, Diana's laugh had some unknown power that she still didn't understand. " _Witchcraft!"_

They might not have the closest of friends, but the fact that they were even friends at all was already an incredible achievement to Akko. The more time they spent together, the more she began to understand how Diana… _worked_. There was still a very long way to go, perhaps even beyond their years at Luna Nova, but one day she hoped to understand everything.

"What do you mean?! I _saved_ us from the deadly gas thing!"

"Yes, after you impulsively made a decision to _endanger_ us from the curse in the beginning."

Akko raised up a finger and opened her mouth to give a snappy reply, but no sound came out and she crossed her arms, stumped. Trying to come up with a way to win the argument, she grew frustrated knowing as more time passed the haughtier Diana would become. "…Good job to you too…" She mumbled instead, continuing her pout.

"Thank you."

Another silence came, but this time it wasn't weighed by negativity. It was quiet and peaceful and gave Akko time to think about the adventure ahead of them. She wasn't sure why, but instead of dread, she was oddly eager for the quest and the new things she would uncover. Not only that, but her friends and mentor depended on her safe return, so return she would with cure in hand.

Akko leaned over to the side to peak at their location. The exit for the leyline was now about a minute ahead and she could see the nighttime sky and looming trees of the Arcturus Forest through the portal. Somewhere inside lay their destination.

Diana turned her head back to look at her, "Akko, can you get the map out of my backpack?"

Akko saluted and began digging through the backpack in front of her.

* * *

When the two finally exited the leyline, aided by the moonlight, Diana stopped the broom to hover high above the forest to get a better look at their surroundings.

The oddity of the forest unnerved her with the mysteries it still held. While the Arcturus Forest was indeed full of life and greenery, nobody knew what exactly rested deep within, especially now with the profound abundance of magic.

And now, they were tasked not only to enter the forbidden forest, but to find a secret section rumored to be all the more dangerous, and enter it blind. _Great_.

Diana took a long and deep breath as her eyes scanned the partially familiar exterior of the Arcturus Forest they had been in not too long before. It was big, spanning out for miles that she was sure was the reason for the legend that witches who entered would never leave. It likely wasn't any enchantment. They'd just get lost or disappear without a trace. She listened to the distant screeches of some creatures unbeknownst to her and sighed, carefully unfolding the map in her hands.

Akko peered over her shoulder with interest, upbeat and excited as usual that she still wasn't sure where she got all that energy from. With a pause of hesitance in thought, Diana retracted her hand from the wand in her sash before moving closer to the leyline portal for its magic light.

With the map completely unfolded, the two of them stared in wonder at its sheer size and detail. It took just a little under Diana's entire arm span to hold and looked to be completely hand drawn. If it weren't for repairing spells existing, she was sure the map would have eroded away upon touch. But there it stayed, passed on throughout many centuries until it could now rest in her hands. Strangely enough, she, too, was excited.

"Whoaaa!" Akko pushed herself forward to get a better look, her eyes darting all across the canvas multiple times to try to take it all in.

While the map was impressive, it was oddly still incomplete. It looked nothing like the one in the book, as if the book version was just placed for aesthetic purposes on a guess. There were blank areas scattered in different locations, some with question marks, some crossed out, some just a quick doodle fading into the blankness of the paper. It was only the area marked "entrance" at the bottom of the map that was extremely detailed by the tree. Entering the forest, the drawings became slightly haphazard, but expected with the updating that needed to be done during the journey.

It was weird… The beginning drawing of the forest faded into blankness yet there were updates of the map completely somewhere else, as if the creators were teleporting. These drawings away from the entrance ranged from carefully drawn to extremely rushed, all of them heading towards the middle of the map before being abruptly stopped.

Straight in the middle was essentially just a circle labeled "Tower," as if at that point the artist(s?) just gave up.

With the blank spots of the map potentially a big setback on their journey, they had enough information to at least get started and find their destination.

"So, uh, how do we get there?"

Diana tapped her chin in thought. The map might've been of the Forest of Arcana, but in no way did it specify where the entrance even was in the Arcturus Forest. Finding nothing that stood out, instead she flipped it over for some sort of clue. On the other side was a very simple design: A circle connected to a skirted-rectangle.

"A person!"

"A keyhole."

What could it mean?

Diana looked back out to the forest for the next clue. The shadowed darkness and faint outline of trees of the Arcturus Forest was starting to look repetitive, slowly straining her eyesight the longer she looked. Another roar of some creature shook the earth, causing multiple smaller creatures to cry out in response across land. She sighed again, at a lost for their next step.

"Should we look around?" Akko suggested, squinting her eyes as if it would help to see in the dark. "Maybe it's something we need to look for?"

"A door perhaps?"

"Or a gate?"

"I believe it'll be near impossible to find some sort of entrance at this hour. We can hardly see without the leyline."

Akko rolled up her sleeves with a determined smile, "With that attitude we'll get nowhere! And whataya mean without the leyline we can't see? Did you forget we're witches?" She reached for her own wand and held it up with a smile. Before she had the chance to cast a light spell, Diana immediately reached back and snatched her wrist.

"Don't!" Diana stared at her sternly in the eyes, carefully lowering Akko's arm back down without releasing her grip. "You have to preserve your magic, Akko. Didn't you hear Professor Ursula?!"

Akko, surprised, awkwardly held the back of her head, "Ehhh, yea something about preserving mana. But I'm just using a light spell…?"

"Akko, Mana _is_ magic… Or to be more precise, it is the root of our magical capabilities. It's how magic users in general are able to use magic without the help of the Sorcerer's Stone." Diana released Akko's arm, hoping she now understood.

"Ohhh…" Akko tucked her wand back in her place, while failing at hiding the quizzical look all over her face. "So… we have a limit…?"

Diana wasn't as irked at Akko's cluelessness as she thought she'd be, on the contrary finding Akko's questioning look amusing yet strangely endearing. "While it would be best to teach you about mana as soon as possible, for now we need to land before I use up my mana just by flying here. But to answer your question before further lessons, yes, each spell-caster has mana that showcases their potential. It can essentially be measured by both quantity and strength." She turned back to face the front, debating on their next course of action.

Akko absorbed the words, pondering about it herself on its possibilities. While she had plenty more questions to ask, the thought that Diana was willing to teach her soon was enough to get her to hold back for now. "We should look around for signs!" She suggested, pointing towards deeper into the forest, "If it's a place just open now, surely it'll stick out like a sore thumb!"

"While I respect your enthusiasm and optimism, you make it sound as if we are headed towards a big and bright new amusement park…"

"You know what an amusement park is?!"

"Akko, what on earth- Just what exactly do you think of me…?"

"To be honest, I thought you spent so much time locked away learning about magic that you don't really know anything else."

"So 'sheltered', got it."

"No not _sheltered…_!" Akko paused. "Okay, maybe yeah. But not the point! I wanted to surprise you with a trip to Tokyo Disneyland one day!"

Diana sighed and held her head, tucking the map away into her backpack and flying the broom towards the direction Akko pointed. "I'm not very interested in amusement parks, if I'm being honest." She spoke, carefully scanning the ground for anything that caught her attention. "But it sounds like a fun trip for you and your friends, so you may go without me."

"Eh? But aren't you my friend, Diana?"

"I'm not sure. _Are_ we friends?"

"You think we're not?"

"I didn't say that, I'm just not sure how comfortable you are calling me so."

"Eh?! _Comfortable_? That makes no sense! So if I wasn't _comfortable_ calling you my friend, you wouldn't think we were friends?"

"Yes, isn't that how it works?"

"So you'll only consider us friends if I consider us friends?!"

"Akko, why are you yelling?"

" _Because_! What kind of sad life are you living?! While I _do_ want to be everyone's friend, shouldn't _you_ be trying to make your own friends instead of waiting for validation from someone else?! Of course, I consider us friends, but you should too! -I mean everyone has their own definition of _friends_ , but we saved the world together! I think that's the biggest friendship point you can get-!"

"Please lower your voice."

"-Yeah we started off really bad and I thought you were a stuck up entitled rich kid snob that was always showing off in front of everyone's face, but that was in the past and while you are still a show-off, you have every right to be because your magic is really cool and you worked really hard for it! Maybe we're not the best of friends, but you gotta at least consider us around there becau-!"

A bellowing scream erupted below them. Before they could register what was going on, a big flock of birds flew straight into them into the sky. The two screamed and braced themselves as the birds paid no attention to the small obstacle to escape whatever had triggered them. They were tossed around in the air, scratches appearing on their skin and clothing with each bird's talons that got too close.

When it was over almost as quick as it came, Akko spat out some feathers while Diana steadied the broom in panic. The flock of birds were gone by then, disappearing into the night sky.

There was a short pause until Diana spoke up first, "They were attracted to your screaming."

"I wasn't _screaming_!"

"You're doing it right now…"

"This is a slightly-raised-voice argument voice!"

"It's still loud and potentially putting us in danger!"

Akko angrily stuck her tongue out at her, despite knowing well Diana couldn't see her from her point of view. But still it raised her confidence and she was certain Diana knew exactly what she was doing anyway. "Whatever, let's just find the entrance…"

Diana sighed and her eyebrow slightly twitched, "Thank _you_."

The two scanned the floor again in silence, both fuming with annoyance at their unfortunate circumstances. This was going to be a _long_ trip.

Directly below them where the birds had flown from was a large lake. Not having anything else to lead on, Diana lowered the broom in hopes to find anything of use at ground level.

"Wait." Akko stopped her before they landed. "Where did those birds come from?"

"It's a forest, Akko, likely the trees."

"Yeah but they came out of nowhere, like _nowhere_ nowhere."

Diana held her chin in thought, taking in Akko's words. Akko was right, there were no warnings to the birds advancing towards them other than the scream. The trees didn't rustle or anything else that would normally signify they had all taken off at once. They just… came out of… nowhere?

She looked back at the lake, watching its slight shimmering and magical glow. From their point of view, it only looked like an oddly shaped rectangle lake, but nothing out of the ordinary. "Hold on tight." Taking her chances, Diana immediately pointed the broom towards the sky and launched, twice as high as they were before.

From their altitude, and despite the night, the lake's shape stuck out as clear as day.

"A keyhole!"

There was no doubt about it then that it was the entrance they were looking for. "But we don't have a key…"

"We should jump!"

"Is that your solution for everything?"

"No, but we should jump!"

Diana turned around to face Akko again, eyeing carefully the eager sparkling eyes of the brown-haired witch. Akko, unsurprisingly, wasn't joking. Closing her eyes, Diana took a minute to relax and weigh her options. Akko has been lucky lately that jumping might even be an option. What did they have to lose? She reopened her eyes as she finalized her answer and said,

"No. You're ridiculous."

Akko's mood immediately dropped to a pout, "Aw… For a second there I thought you were going to agree."

"I'm sure you have good reason to want to jump, but I'd rather us stay safe than sorry." Diana began descending the broom towards the edge of the lake where she was finally able to release her spell and relax. When they landed, she sat on the ground to steady her breathing and calm herself.

Akko watched her with worry, crouching over to place her hand on her back in support. When Diana raised her hand to signify that she was alright, Akko got up to inspect the lake for an entry.

Diana watched Akko jog around what part of the lake she could with reasonable distance, making sure she never left her sight in case something went wrong. She smiled at Akko's confused head scratch, then gasped when Akko completely submerged her head in the water. Standing up immediately, Diana ran towards her, slowing down once Akko resurfaced completely unharmed.

Akko gave her a big grin and ran back to her instead. "We have to go in!"

"Akko, don't scare me like that!"

"Scare you?"

"Yes! What would you have done if the water wasn't actually water!?"

"But it's not water."

Diana momentarily stopped her worry to look at Akko with interest. It wasn't water, Akko wasn't wet in the slightest. She looked back at the glowing lake that seemed to be calling for them, examining it carefully and sticking her hand in. It almost felt like a vacuum against her skin, trying to absorb her and pull her in. "It's a portal." She said in awe, the magical reflecting light of the lake bouncing off her blue eyes. When she turned around, she saw Akko already mounted on the broom with a thumbs up.

"Let's go then!" Akko cheered, excited for the adventure that awaited them.

"Akko, give me the broom."

Akko dismounted, confused as she handed the beat-up broom to her.

Diana didn't hesitate to throw the broom towards the middle of the lake, both gasping in surprise when a jolt of electricity erupted from the water where the broom made contact. Instead of entering the portal like they expected, the broom was instead sent flying into the air, landing stick-first into the dirt on the other side of the lake.

"Ah… No flying, huh?"

"Afraid so."

They stood next to each other, pondering over their next move.

Akko took her by the hands, a bright and hopeful smile plastered on her face, "Well, our friends are waiting and we're not going to get anywhere by standing here! Shall we?"

Diana looked back at the lake with unsureness. She gulped, examined all their belongings, and went back to observing the lake. Eventually, Diana peered back at Akko's unfaltering optimism and sighed, offering a small, awkward smile in return. "Yes, let's." She nodded.

Akko smiled back, proud this time as they held hands and readied themselves for entry. "Ready?"

Diana stared at her reflection through the pseudo-water, questioning her life choices up until that moment.

"Three."

Akko grew more impatient as they stood there, knowing that the longer they took their time, the longer their friends would stay crystalized forever.

"Two."

Their hands gripped in anticipation, knees bending to ready themselves.

"One."

Both had the same fierce resolution in their eyes. They were ready. No matter what lay ahead, the two of them would succeed.

" _Go_!"

When Diana had opened her eyes in the water, she turned to see Akko clearly not holding her breath. Akko only smiled and laughed in return, mouthing something akin to "It's okay!" that made no sound. Releasing her breath as well, Diana cautiously inhaled to confirm that she could breathe.

It was like they were sinking, except the bottom of the lake was bright and they were moving at a fast rate towards it.

"Be careful." Diana mouthed back, realizing that she couldn't make a sound either. It was eerily quiet in the portal, unnerving even, that she wanted to get out of there as fast as possible as her mind began to fill in the blank noise on its own.

Fortunately, yet unfortunately, they shot out of the other side of the portal, flying out with a scream as the world's gravity seemed to reverse while they were in the air and throw them back into the ground on the side of the lake. Sound returned then, and the chirps of the nearby birds was almost deafening.

Akko was first to sit up with a groan, holding her head as everything spun. She crawled over to Diana still laying on the floor, making sure she was still conscious. "Why did you say peek-a-boo?"

"When on _earth_ did I say _peek-a-boo_?" Diana had yet to open her eyes, groaning as she rolled over.

"In the portal. I said 'It's okay!' and you replied 'peek-a-boo.'"

"Why would-… I said _'Be careful_ '…"

Akko slowly mouthed both phrases in thought, measuring their similarities as Diana got up. Following her lead, Akko also stood up and dusted herself off, excitedly looking back at the portal they had entered from.

Diana watched Akko run off again, opening her mouth to scold Akko into coming back before Akko yelled, "Diana! A door!" ushering her over. Firefly-like creatures illuminated her path, leading her to the massive stone door that Akko was attempting to pull open. There was odd lettering inscribed on it, a language she was unfamiliar with that gave her a headache more than anything. Putting her hand onto her chin in thought, Diana watched as Akko kicked the door a few times while deciding their next move.

The little light bugs were dancing around Akko, following her erratic movements as Akko then attempted to climb the vines that made up the rest of the connecting wall. As if gravity increased tenfold the higher Akko climbed, she lost her grip and smacked back down onto the ground.

The light bugs were dancing around Diana as well, as if trying to get her attention. She watched them, and they slowly made their way to the floor where a hidden historic magic circle lay, scribbled with more of the ancient language. "Akko, come here." Diana cleaned up the circle with her foot as moss had nearly covered the entirety of it, now trying to figure out its purpose.

All of the bugs were dancing around the radius in perfect harmony then, seemingly singing with the weird noises they made. When Akko finally made her way over, Diana took them both to the middle of the circle where the inscription on both the door and the floor began to light up a bright blue.

"Whoaaa!" Akko watched in wonder, dancing along to the bouncing song of the bugs with a giggle.

The floor beneath them began to shake, causing both to step aside as a small height-level pillar with a bowl-like dip emerged from the center. In it a small dagger lay, and, in English, the words scribbled " _Offering."_

Akko was first to pick up the dagger, examining it carefully trying to make a connection. "What now? Are we going to fight something?"

Diana sighed and shook her head, a gloomy and hesitant look across her face, "I'm assuming it's one of the most classic powerful forms of magic casting. It's a blood offerin-A-Akko please wai… Alright."

"Oh." Akko was already dripping blood into the bowl from her hand. "Well let's get a move on!" She passed the dagger over, wiping her injured hand onto her skirt with a wince of pain at the poor idea.

Diana grimaced at her lack of caution to her open wound, not stopping to take her wand out and cast a healing spell.

"What?! Diana! I thought we were supposed to save-"

"It's just a minor spell, it's fine." Diana put her wand back to her sash, now putting her attention back to the dagger now partially smeared with Akko's blood. She was just staring at it, unmoving, studying the sharp blade that even the most minor touch could cut her.

Akko watched her curiously, "Um, do you need… help?"

Looking at her funny, Diana seemed to relax at the question to retort, "An odd way of asking permission to stab me..."

"Wh-What no, I just thought you weren't sure what to do… or something."

Diana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she reopened, she was swift to prick her finger and hold her hand over the bowl. The moment her drop of blood splashed onto Akko's, the glowing inscriptions flashed into red, and the earth began to tremble once more. She placed the dagger back onto the pillar, and to their side the stone doors scraped against the floor and started to open.

Akko bounced as she watched the giant doors reveal what was hidden, while Diana instead stayed cool and collected as she took out their map.

When the doors completely opened with a loud boom, dust fell out of its cracks and crevices and onto the floor. The two witches stood there in silence, staring at the forest that just looked like the basic forest they were already in, albeit a little thicker. Sounds of creatures came from deep within, sending chills through their bodies as they were unsure where or _what_ the creatures may be.

"Let's go?" Akko looked towards Diana for approval, smiling when she received the small nod as she jogged her way in.

Diana instead walked, examining the map while looking up to make sure Akko didn't stray too far.

The moment she was completely inside, the doors slammed close.


	3. A Rune in the Dark

"Diana! Why are you so far?! Come on let's go!"

"Akko, you are simply walking too fast."

"Or maybe _you're_ walking too _slow_?"

"Will you be like this the whole trip?"

"Like what?"

"Bull-headed. Stubborn. Difficult. Boorish. Obstinate. Vexing-"

"Hate to break it to you, but I have no idea what some of those mean. Therefore, they are invalid. Therefore, your argument is invalid. Therefore, I win."

"Using 'therefore' doesn't make your claims any more logical…"

"Therefore, you suck." Akko turned around and pulled down her eye, sticking her tongue out with a 'blehh!' sound before turning back with a huff.

Diana rolled her eyes and sighed, pushing aside a giant hanging leaf in her path as Akko shoved through everything in front of her. She didn't respond, knowing it was bait to rile her up until they entered an argument. But as much as she told herself to be mature, there was a small part inside her that wanted to retort until Akko understood. Pushing the impulse away, she kept her eye on Akko, who was too far for comfort, and continued looking around the forest in worry for anything peculiar.

They've been walking for a while, headed straight from where they started to keep track of their location. Occasionally, Diana would take out the map to try to measure the distance, but with the darkness save for the moonlight and oddity of the map, it wasn't much help. The more they walked, the thicker the forest became. They had to waddle their way through the greenery: stepping over, ducking under, squeezing through, and pushing aside. The terrain wasn't forgiving, and it seemed only one of them had a problem with it.

It was silent between them for a few more minutes. Diana listened to the strangely normal-sounding creatures of the night, hoping they would keep their distance and leave them alone. She understood the severity of the situation and why Akko was in such a rush, but even so…

Diana stopped walking when she reached the base of a giant fallen tree trunk. She just blankly stared at it, then looked up at Akko already at the top with ease. A flash of panic appeared as Akko prepared to jump off the other side, not noticing she had stopped. "Akko, please wait."

Akko turned around with a bit of her annoyance still lingering on her face, expecting to be nagged at again to slow down. When she saw the worry and sincerity in Diana's eyes, her annoyance disappeared, and she wondered what was wrong. Noticing Diana's pace in breathing and slow attempts of climbing up, Akko crouched down on the log and held out her hand. "Ah, sorry."

Diana accepted the offer, doing the rest to hoist herself up onto the trunk. "No, I'm sorry. All of this movement in the forest turned out to be a bit much for me is all." She gave a tired smile and stood up, dusting herself off.

"R-Right…" Akko stayed in her crouched position with a solemn look until a slender hand reached out in front of her.

"Let's go?" Diana offered.

Akko pouted, but took the hand and stood up as well. When they made their way back down the trunk, they patted themselves off and took a small breather. "You know, Diana… Maybe we should take a- oh boy something's happening." Underneath her foot, the floor began to grow a bright blue. It was the first time anything 'unusual' was happening that Akko stepped back to let Diana pass.

Diana rushed over to look, kneeling on the floor and pushing aside the leaves in the way to reveal a glowing rune engraved in the dirt. She was unfamiliar with what it meant, not having time to analyze and think before the next event occurred. There was a slight tremor below them like an earthquake, and she instead decided it would be more important to look for anything dangerous that would appear than ponder about the workings of the rune.

Akko was panicking, also looking around for anything to show up, "What's happening?!" She stepped closer to Diana to watch their back, fully anticipating some sort of mob raid to attack them. Both of their hands hovered over their wands in preparation.

Then the tremors stopped.

And nothing happened.

Akko let her breath go and let out a tense laugh. "Well that was weir-Eh?"

A small square cutout beneath them vanished from thin air without any warning, revealing a dark pit below that they couldn't see far into. The split second before the two of them fell into the hole, there was a mutual glance at each other for help.

* * *

It wasn't a straight drop, fortunately, but instead a steep dirt slide that didn't allow them to stop.

Akko was screaming their way down, surely spinning and tumbling from the sound of her voice as far as Diana could tell. It was pitch black, and Diana wasn't sure where exactly Akko was, only that she was above her. She attempted to reach for her wand, but from their velocity and the jagged slide in addition to her attempts to brace herself, it proved futile as the slide spat them out not too long after.

Diana was first to exit, forced to roll on a stone hard floor where she eventually somehow landed sitting up and held her head with a groan. From the pain and timing, she couldn't move fast enough to the sounds of Akko's scream getting closer. Out Akko came, completely crashing into her back and knocking her back onto the floor.

"Wow that didn't hurt as much as I thought it would!" Akko looked at their dark surroundings, squinting her eyes to see better. It was then that she noticed the 'floor' she was laying on was squishy and groaning in pain. "Hi, Diana!"

"Please get off me…"

Akko rolled off the other witch and helped her sit up. While she was making sure Diana was okay, the room lit up to a low red hue. There was oddly no source for the light, but it allowed them to at least see their situation. "It's… just a box." Akko noted, looking at each similar stone wall and ceiling only a few feet taller than them. There was nothing in the room. It was just a plain stone box that looked the same from all sides. "Uh oh. Diana?"

In came a slight bubbling sound before water began to seep through the edges of the room at an alarming rate. It wasn't gushing through, instead somehow quickly pouring out of the very thin cracks above them.

In just a few seconds, the pool in the room was already a few inches high.

Diana's eyes widened at her realization of their predicament, "Akko! The entrance!" She yelled out with Akko immediately whirling back around to the slide they should have come from. Only, there was no slide anymore. The wall behind them looked the same as the others as if the slide never existed.

Akko ran over to the wall they came out of, panicking in searching for any nooks and crannies that would signify a closed trap door. She pushed and kicked against the wall, trying to get anything to open to allow them out. "I'm going to use a spell!" Not waiting for a response, Akko took out her wand and chanted with as much force as she could, "Open sesame!"

Only, nothing happened. There was no burst of green or magical shimmering, and nothing opened.

Akko looked at her wand in confusion, pointing it back down and yelling, "Open sesame!" Again, nothing happened, and she repeated it a few times to no avail. She tried smacking her wand a few times to try to get it to work, but nothing remotely close to magic would come out.

Diana moved Akko aside and held out her wand as well, "Open sesame!" She tried, confirming her theory about the nature of the room. Diana gave a heavy sigh and stashed away her wand, "We can't use magic in here." She held her chin in thought, her eyes darting around the room for any clues. Her teeth were clenched as she ruled out all the options that appeared in her head.

"What?!" Akko ran around the room to inspect all the walls, trying everything she could to get anything to open. All sides of the box were the same, and none of them revealed an exit.

The room had filled just up to Diana's chest by then, not showing any signs of stopping or slowing down. Soon they'd be forced to swim for air, and not too long after that the room would be filled. "Try the floor!" Diana took a deep breath and dove, feeling along the ground for anything that stuck out to grab onto. Akko was quick to follow her, running her hand along whatever surface she could reach, pushing and kicking to get something to budge.

They swam around and around, making sure all surfaces on the floor and walls were reached.

There was nothing. As many times as they tried, the outcome stayed the same: There was nothing.

After multiple attempts, Diana resurfaced again to catch her breath. The room was nearly filled by then, and if she stretched her arm she could easily touch the ceiling. She watched Akko lap around the room over and over, then swam to where Akko was about to resurface. Before Akko could take another deep breath to dive again, Diana caught her and shook her head.

"Hey, let me go! We need to get out of here!" Akko was breathing heavily, pushing the wet brown mess of her hair out of her face so she could see. She was tired, distraught, and now irritated that she attempted to break free from the hold to try again.

Diana was no better at stabilizing her breathing, but she refused to let Akko go and only reinforced her grip as Akko struggled, "You're wasting your energy."

" _Wasting_ my _energy_? I'm not sure if you've realized, but we are literally about to drown!" Akko took another deep breath and lunged herself forward to escape.

But Diana kept her hold, "Stop it, Akko! Listen to me! The next time you dive will be the last, and you won't have air when you need it! We need to think!"

Akko was slowing her struggles, confirming that she was listening and understood. Her eyes were shut, and she whimpered with her poor attempts to break free.

Diana relaxed her hold and sighed, letting Akko calm down before letting her go. She scanned the room another time, estimating the amount of time they had left. Their chances didn't look too good, and she figured they had less than a minute before being forced underwater.

Diana turned back to Akko and took her hand, causing the brunette to finally open her eyes again and look at her. All Diana had on her face was a weak smile, almost apologetic, "Come on now… where is that overwhelming energy of yours?"

"Overwhelming?!"

Seeing the annoyed pout on Akko's face, Diana was able to calm down and relax, her worried smile now slightly amused, "Deep breath, okay?"

Akko nodded, letting a bit more air out in preparation. As their heads were forced to tilt up for the remaining space, she inhaled as much as she could and submerged just as the room filled up.

There was no longer the sound of pouring water.

They were just floating there in the silent, motionless box, looking around the room for anything.

Anything.

Over and over their eyes gazed upon every square inch.

There was nothing.

Nothing…

Nothing…

Nothing…

Diana held her hand over her mouth, fighting the creeping urge to release her breath for desperation of air. It was starting to burn, and soon she'd be forced to give up. But just as the fear crossed her mind, _There_!

In one of the crevices of the roof where the water had been pouring from, very small bubbles were appearing and escaping through, likely from the remainder of the air leaving the confined room. Hoping her findings were correct, she rushed to alarm Akko in the direction.

Akko swam to the bubbles as fast as she could upon sight. Feeling along the edge between the wall and the roof, she perked up when her fingernail was able to grip against a surface of the roof. She waved Diana over, all while pulling with all her might to get the crack to budge. Despite the pain she felt that her fingernails would just rip off, she instead planted her feet onto the wall for better leverage and continued trying. When it moved slightly out of the way, Akko gave a sound of cheer as she was able to fit her fingers through an overhead trap door. It was heavy and gave an unpleasant noise of scraping stone the more it moved. Struggling and pulling, it then opened enough for moonlight to shine through to reveal what looked like the bottom of a lake.

With a gap finally big enough for her to fit through, Akko gave another cheer and was swift to grab Diana's free wrist and pull her out with her. Eager over their once hopeless situation turned positive, she swam as fast as she could out of the box and out of the lake.

Diana was getting dizzy, further forcing her mouth shut with her hand as Akko did her best to save them. She was unable to focus, leaving her life in Akko's hands as her conscious slowly began to leave.

The moonlight seemed to mock them, as if they were truly just swimming in the night of the sky, never to see the light of day.

Akko was quick to yank Diana up into the air first and gasped when she emerged too, the crisp air felt refreshing on her wet skin that she wasn't sure if she was alive.

And the two of them floated there, catching their breath, and, although weakly, laughed.

* * *

"We seem to have everything, thankfully, so there's no harm there."

The lake water was calm, casting a perfect mirror of the bright moon above. The small red hue of the room was gone, leaving behind the brilliant colors of blue to take over instead. It was cold, and their wet clothes didn't make it any better, but the fresh air felt like everything to them that it didn't matter. The two witches were sat along the shoreline, sitting out the after-effects of adrenaline in peace.

Akko was kicking her stretched out legs, blankly staring out into the landscape as Diana next to her took inventory on their belongings.

Diana inspected her wand next, then her hands with a 'tsk' of annoyance.

"Hey Diana?" Akko started, looking up at the moon, "Where are we?"

Diana looked at her in confusion, "Basing off how long we slid in the dirt," She took out the map, unfolding it to calculate the distance, "We shouldn't be too far from where we…" Diana paused, looking back and forth from the entrance of the map to where they likely should have been moving forward.

Only, there was no lake in the middle of the path, and surely mappers wouldn't have missed such a significant landmark. Perhaps the landscape has changed since then? Or maybe they were currently in an area that hadn't been documented? "I'm… not entirely sure."

There were a few lakes scattered around the odd map though, one of which taking the shape of the lake they sat on. But, that lake was on the complete opposite end of the map from where they started, and there was no realistic explanation for how they would have ended up that far. Unless of course… it was by ma-

There was a loud growling sound that snapped her out of her thoughts, and she jolted up in her seat in alarm.

"Ah… that was me, sorry." Akko sheepishly grinned, holding onto her stomach as it made another gurgling noise.

Diana stared at her with wide eyes before breaking into a smile, "To be honest, I was amazed you've held out for so long without any complaints for food." She dug into Akko's backpack, fishing for anything edible to give.

"I hardly ever complain about food!"

"Akko, I've caught you _multiple_ times in the middle of the night scouring for something to eat."

"Oh yeah? And why are _you_ always out at night if not to sneak into the kitchen to eat?"

"To catch you from sneaking into the kitchen…" Diana pulled out two palm-sized snacks wrapped in a parchment paper that somehow kept whatever that was inside from harm. She handed one over to Akko and began tearing hers open.

Akko hungrily tore hers open with a grin, but a blank look quickly took over her face when what was revealed was an odd brown square slab. It was pasty, but firm, and had no odor whatsoever. "What the heckity is this?" She bent it a little and cringed, the brown color throwing off her appetite. If it hadn't had been wrapped in a paper, she surely would have mistaken it for a piece of wood and thrown it out.

"Just eat it." Diana ignored her concerns, already biting a piece of her slab with a sound of a snap.

Akko watched her eat it and cringed again, looking back at her own slab and pouted. She hesitated in taking a bite, and when the first piece snapped off her chew was slow in the fear that it would splinter her mouth and get stuck forever. It tasted like nothing. It was just a dry, hard slab. "Very funny, Diana, getting me to eat dirt from the floor!"

Diana just looked at her but didn't answer like Akko wanted.

There was no "Ha Ha! Pranked!" despite her knowing that was out of character for Diana anyway. Akko gulped at the lack of humor in Diana's face, forcing herself to eat more of the slab until she finished with a dry swallow. She shuddered when she was done and looked towards her backpack for the water that was packed.

"It's a popular traveling food created by the magic community. It's meant to give you all the nutrition you should need while maintaining its travel-size and low profile with hopes to give the illusion of full-ness." Diana sighed, snapping off another piece of hers and roughly chewing, "Unfortunately, after many years of development, this is the outcome."

Akko just squinted at her and with her hoarse voice replied, "You really couldn't have explained that earlier?" She gulped down her bottle of water and let out a satisfied gasp.

"I thought it would be funny seeing your reaction."

"No kidding. I thought it was a brick and that you were out to kill me or something."

"Oh? And yet you still ate it. Curious isn't it? You seem to trust me very much, Akko."

Akko crossed her arms and looked away in embarrassment, "We-Well yeah! We're a team now so I _have to_ trust you. In fact, I'm _forced to_ or else I'll die either way, so there!" She turned back to see the slight grin on Diana's face, and her eyebrow twitched, "You're being very annoying."

"It was only an observation. There's no need to get so worked up about it."

"Oh yeah?! Well what if I said that you trust me a-!"

"In any case," Diana changed the subject and her joking mood was gone as quick as it came, looking back at her wand in concern.

Still, Akko looked like she was about to tackle and fight her from the disregard.

"Despite the lack of magic in the room we were in, we still seemed to have lost mana for the spells we used anyway."

"Huh? We did?" Akko looked at her own wand, studying it for anything different despite her not knowing what she should be looking for. "Oh no! I used that spell so many times! Am I out of mana? Can I never cast spells again?!"

"Calm down, Akko. The opening spell is one of the simplest spells to use so it shouldn't have taken away too much." Diana sighed, "But even so, we need to be more careful. I won't hound on you for when and where to use your magic, choosing to trust your judgement instead, but allow me to teach you how it works to prevent any mishaps." She stood up from her spot, checking their belongings again before heading out back into the forest. "Though we need to keep moving, I feel uneasy just sitting here."

Akko shivered at her words, looking around in the dark for the peculiar before running after her.

* * *

"I told you earlier that mana was measured in quantity and strength, correct?"

Akko nodded, helping Diana up a boulder as she did.

Diana thanked her, and the two continued walking, "Each spell-caster has an aura around them that allows you to gauge both their attributes of mana. Strength is measured through the spectrum of the rainbow, with red as the weakest level and white -which occurs after violet- as the strongest. Quantity is measured by the intensity of the aura, with the stronger it being the more mana a user has." She held her arm out and stopped walking, pointing at another rune on the floor, thankfully in view, that they slowly shuffled around.

Akko listened with intensity, trying to mentally write down notes in her head at everything Diana said.

"Using too much mana or spells at once causes Exhaustion, even if the user has high strength and-or quantity. This is something that instead must be worked on through tolerance, as it's a physical constraint against the body. That being said, mana should only be used in the direst of situations." She took a deep breath, "As you are aware, using up -or losing- all mana is the worst possible outcome. Because we've been limited to only stored magical energy for centuries, it wasn't a concern anymore for us to use up the mana we didn't have access to. Though fortunately, while it does take an exceedingly long time, mana replenishes on its own."

Akko stopped walking in thought. "So… what happens? If you use up all of your mana, I mean? What's gonna happen to everyone if we don't save them?"

Diana turned to her and stared, eyeing her carefully to see her reactions, "While even I can't say for certain, I believe it's best that you don't know. Just that you know it shouldn't ever occur."

"What? Why?"

"You aren't very… controlling of your emotions. I'd rather you not do anything drastic because of what I tell you."

"I can take it! Tell me!" Akko puffed up her cheeks and frowned, trying to intimidate the answer out. "Tell meeee!"

Diana shook her head at Akko proving her point, motioning her to continue walking, "How about this: I will promise you I'll tell you the closer we are to the tower. So if everything goes well, you should know in no time at all."

Akko crossed her arms and huffed at Diana's firm resolution, "You better! If you don't then…!" Her eyes were darting around in thought trying to come up with a solid stake to hold the promise against, "…then…!" She held her chin, "…then… you… have to give me your dessert for a whole… week! No, month! No, year!"

"Akko you can just ask for my dessert…"

"But for a whole _year_?"

"That is true. The school does have a knack for tarts."

"Also, I can't even approach you for lunch! Your friends are scary as _heck_ , sometimes you just leave, sometimes you don't even eat lunch, sometimes you're studying, sometimes you're reading a book, you're super quiet, you don't smile, you have an atmosphere for 'don't look at me, don't touch me.', you look sad all the time, you look lonel- "

"Is this about lunch anymore?"

"The point is! I can't take your tarts!"

"I'd be more than happy to eat lunch with you if you just asked."

Akko paused, "You mean it?" She asked with a hopeful smile, earning a nod back in return. "Then we should eat lunch together! It'll be so fun! We can all push our tables together and yell at each other from across the table! And all of our friends will be laughing and having fun! Then we'll end up starting a food fight! And food will be flying everywhere and it'll be great!"

Diana gave her a weird look, but kept a smile on her face, "'All', huh. -Anyway, please stop changing the subject. Did you understand everything I told you?"

"Yes! It's scribbled deep into my noggin!"

"That doesn't sound very reassuring..."

"I have a question! Why do we still have the Sorcerer's Stone?"

Diana moved them along towards their destination without looking back. "The Sorcerer's Stone still allows us to use magic without wasting mana. Since we are a prestigious witch school, it would be troublesome having to monitor everyone's mana use. This way, we are able to reach our potentials freely and develop our strength. The stronger your mana, the stronger the spells that can be done. Likewise, the more mana, the more spells that can be done."

"And you can see our aura-mana thing?"

"Yes, I can. It requires concentration, but I can see yours right now if I wanted to."

Akko bounced up and down in excitement, "Really?! What color am I? How much mana do I have? Please tell me I'm green at least! Is green good? What color are you? How much mana do you have?"

"Akko, only you will know how much mana you have. I can only guess. Also green is great yes, most students at our school currently fall into the yellow-green spectrum. When we return, you're bound to see mostly hues of yellow mixed in with orange and green. Perhaps you'll see a few solid green, and some leaning into blue, but this is usually reserved for the older students. The professors you'll see in the range of violet to white but know that it's extremely rare to reach pure white in a lifetime."

Akko was really excited then, "So then? What's our mana?"

Diana looked at her with concern, unsure of what to do about her intense excitement, "I'll leave that up to you to find out."

"Nooo! Just tell me! Don't be selfish!"

"You'll find out soon enough."

In front of them was a large hedge, towering over them and stopping their expedition. To their sides were very thick trees, too close together for them to squeeze through. It was either they headed back and used a different route or figure out a way to get past the hedge instead. Diana stopped to think, ignoring Akko's begging for her to reveal the answers.

There was a rustling of leaves ahead, stopping Akko from talking as they both listened. Slowly, a small door-sized opening appeared in the hedge, revealing a clear path on the other side. The inside was lined with more hedge walls, but at least it seemed to lay out a way through.

They peered inside the opening and were quiet.

"I think we should go in."

"Or we think about this some more and go back to avoid whatever danger is ahead of us."

"But since this is forward, that means this is the quickest path towards the tower!"

"But we should be safe than sorry and – Akko please don't go in."

"I'm in."

"Indeed." Diana stepped inside the hedge-opening, watching as the entrance morphed back to normal and disappeared, removing their only known exit. She sighed, taking out her wand to check that it was still active unlike before. The green of the light helped ease her worry, and she kept her wand in hand as she followed Akko from behind.

She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but the hedge was tall enough to loom over them and cast a disorienting shadow, as if it were laughing and mocking the deeper they walked.


	4. A Test of Limits

Akko wasn't one for backing down from a challenge. In fact, one of her signature attributes was that she never gave up even when the situation looked hopeless or dire. Just like the missile crisis not too long ago where she encouraged everyone to keep their heads up and try, with the help of her friends the disaster was adverted. It kept her full of hope, never to fall into despair and let darkness consume her, even if everyone made fun of her -or even if no matter how hard she tried there was nothing to show for it -or even if she found out her idol and role-model was the reason she couldn't use magic in the first place. It was one of the things that told her to keep trying and chase for her dreams, despite what anyone else had to say.

… or… what anyone else had to _silently_ say.

Akko stared at the massive wall of leaves in front of her, humming in her thoughts and pondering with her hand under her chin, pretending it wasn't the fifth dead-end they've already reached. She wasn't very good at tracking their location, especially since the hedge didn't hold any significant marks to tell her where to go, but still she tried to avoid admitting her mistake. Ignoring the annoyed tapping sound behind her, Akko spun around with her carefree determination and marched towards a different path to take.

Went that way… Went this way… Left… Right… Left? No no… Right! …Left…? This way? Wait...

Dead-end.

"It's a maze… isn't it…?"

"Are you realizing this now?"

"No, I just didn't want to get scolded."

"I _told_ you we shouldn't have gone in."

"There it is."

Diana, who had been holding onto the last of her patience in silence, stepped forward with a sigh. Her arms were crossed, and she glared at Akko sheepishly hanging her head in defeat. "Let's go." Taking the lead, Diana marched back towards the next path opening, debating on their next course of action.

The hedges of the maze stood tall, reaching for the heavens and barely leaving just enough space for moonlight. The walls were massive, thick in diameter and showing no end. Each corner they turned only revealed yet another path to walk with choices to make - or as of late, not a path at all but just another of the same leaf-covered barriers that were difficult to recognize until they stood face front. From how long they've been walking, the maze likely spanned out for miles on end with nothing to indicate where they've been or where they will go. Checking the map only revealed a confusing mass of scribbles that weren't recognizable as a maze at all. It more closely resembled a thorn bush as all the lines tangled together in an incoherent and dark mess.

"Maybe we should retrace our steps to the beginning…?"

"Ah yes, an optimal idea… if only we weren't _lost_."

"You're lost?!"

"Don't act like this is solely my responsibility!"

"Well yeah I _know_ , but you're really smart about these things so I-" Akko immediately shut up when an even fiercer glare fell upon her. She followed along in silence, holding her breath to fight her impulse to continue talking should she want to face the wrath of a blizzard.

Diana walked up to another dead-end, her eyebrow twitching as she spun back around. She didn't bother giving Akko another glance as she passed, walking along with her normal composure that actually felt as if a panel of glass just on the brink of shattering. "And I _was_ keeping track of our location."

Dead-end.

Diana gripped her wand, taking a deep breath as she headed back for another path. Akko hesitantly followed her, changing the amount of feet of space between them as Diana led them to one dead-end after another.

It got to the point that Diana just stared at a wall for a much longer duration than usual, unmoving.

Akko carefully tip-toed her way closer, peeking to see Diana's face that was hidden behind the strands of partially damp blonde hair, "Um… Are… you ok-"

"I don't know."

"Eh?"

"I don't… know…!" Diana bit her lip, her eyes wavering in panic as if she couldn't settle on a thought to ease her mind.

Akko was unsure what to do, never really seeing Diana so frustrated at anything that wasn't her (or mostly her anyway). She attempted to be as careful as she could with her words and tone, not wanting to cause any more trouble. "Don't know what?" She winced, unsure of what to expect and prepared herself for the worst.

"I just don't know! I despise not knowing! It feels like we've been going around in circles and-!" Diana abruptly stopped, realizing how poorly she was controlling her outburst. She took a long breath to relax, then looked at Akko with her signature composure, "We've been here for hours and we really need to get home, but perhaps we're just trapped and there is no exit."

Akko looked weirded out from her sudden change in demeanor. It wasn't just the change though, but rather Diana sounded a lot colder than usual, as if she were just a robot devoid of all emotion. Being aware Diana was bottling it up, Akko stepped forward and carefully placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort. "It's okay to not know things. I don't know a lot of things-!"

"I'm aware."

"Okay, rude. -But anyway, you don't have to worry! If worst comes to worst we'll just blast a hole in the walls like we always do!"

"That's odd. I really don't recall ever 'blasting a hole' in a wall with you…"

" _Yet_!"

"I'm sorry?"

"The point is, we'll always have plans! Not everything has to be perfect like you want, but we'll pull through! Every path we take leads us closer to the finish line even if it takes us forever! Maybe the next path we take is the exit! We won't know unless we try!" Akko patted her shoulder and gave a big toothy grin.

Diana just stared at her, unsure of what to think of the abundance of optimism. She crossed her arms as Akko continued patting her shoulder for some reason and sighed, nudging her head to the side to motion Akko in taking back the lead. "A few more tries and we take a break." Diana compromised, setting out their plans.

Akko marched forward with a puffed-out chest of determination, nodding, "We're a team, yeah? Anything is possible as long as we do it together! You know as they say: Teamwork makes the dream work! And right now our dream is to get out of here so we can get to the tower!" She swung her arms silly as she walked to lighten the mood, earning a low chuckle in return.

"I just don't understand why everything feels the same yet different…" Diana looked at the walls beside them in thought, watching as they swayed and loomed. "Didn't we just turn left from here?" She stopped to point at a wall, looking back and forth from where she pointed to where the next exit was. It was odd, as the wall looked nothing out of the ordinary and really had no reason to cause suspicion. Even so, crouching, Diana observed the wall before her to retrace her memory of steps they've taken.

Akko shrugged and continued marching, "I'm sure we came from over there." She pointed to the end of the path. "Maybe all of this walking is getting to you?" Akko waited for a response with her carefree attitude, fully anticipating an exit at their next turn and didn't slow her pace. It has been hours that they've been stuck after all, and as much as she tried to ignore it, the slow creeping of feeling trapped and suffocated was on the verge of bursting her into panic.

Not hearing Diana's poised voice nor the familiar light footsteps behind her, she stopped in her tracks to turn around.

All that was behind her was the familiar dead-end they've faced too many times before.

"Diana?" Akko paused, her upbeat mood slowly dripping out in the place of caution. Everything around her was quiet now, almost too quiet with how exposed she started to feel. "This isn't very funny Diana!" She said a little louder, holding herself from the cold that was settling in. Akko walked up to the wall where Diana should have been standing, smacking it a few times to make sure it was real. Unfortunately, it was, as if a path in that direction had never existed.

"Diana!" She called again, not earning a response that she wished.

With how open and empty it now was, even the slightest breeze sent shivers up her spine as the walls whispered a disorienting voice into her ears. Of course, it was only the sounds of leaves in the wind, but to her it felt wicked and directed. The once normal hedges covered in greenery now looked full of thorns and sharp branches, yet she was sure they hadn't changed in appearance. It was only her perspective that changed, and she now clenched her wand close to her chest in fear.

…But this wasn't the time for standing around scared! Akko tilted her head all the way back to see the top of the walls and cupped her mouth with her hands. Inhaling as much as she was able, Akko screamed, "DIANAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" and immediately pounced onto the wall and held on. She began to climb as fast as she was able, ignoring the thorns that protruded and stabbed into her hands.

Barely even halfway, just as before at the entrance of the forest, gravity increased much stronger than she was able to handle, and down she smacked back into the earth.

Akko growled as she stood back up and wiped her face, rolling up her sleeves to her elbows as another plan entered her mind. She ran a few feet back to give herself space, digging her shoes into the dirt to help with her stance. What she failed to acknowledge was the giant flock of creatures that flew high overhead from her earlier disturbance, screeching as they slowly covered the sky and erased all gaps for light. Instead she focused on the task at hand, pointing her wand towards the hedge and taking a deep breath. "IGNIS!" Akko yelled, gasping in hope and surprise when red fire-crack sparks began erupting from the tip of her wand.

Just as a fireball left her wand and shot out towards the wall, Akko realized a little too late that she was still standing rather close.

The fireball exploded upon impact, setting the wall into a fiery blaze and lighting up the surrounding area in a bright orange light. Akko was sent flying a few feet back into the floor, her face now covered in soot that she had to cough out of her throat. Ignoring the slight burning against her skin, Akko watched the fire dance in anticipation, praying that a pathway to Diana would emerge behind the flames.

But the fire didn't seem to be spreading like she wanted, only staying in the small radius that her magic was able to cover. It was slowly dying out too, leaving behind black singes against the leaves instead of a clear hole like she wanted. "Really?!"

Sharp and panicked screeches rang in her ears and it was then that Akko finally looked up. The mob creatures above were frantically scrambling, trying to fly around the smoke that disrupted their path. They sounded angry and Akko watched them fly in confusion, unable to tell what they were from the darkness. From the high shrill of their screech, Akko was sure they weren't even birds and, truthfully, she didn't want to wait and find out what they looked like.

Shaking from the loud noise, Akko carefully stood up not to draw attention to herself despite the blazing beacon of red right next to her. She may as well have been screaming "Here I am!" and with just her luck, they started to funnel down towards the source. "Uh oh." She made a break for it, running as fast as she could away from the fire just as the creatures smashed into the ground where she had been standing. Despite the frenzied and crazed flying, because of their massive abundance in number, they seemed to move in unison as if they were one giant shadowed beast.

Akko screamed as they filled up in the maze and their screeches were now deafening from the proximity. Her eyes were getting blurry and she hope there was no dead-end in her path to stop her lest she be forced to face the creatures head-on.

Everything was dark as she ran, and she depended on her low night vision to keep moving. It didn't cross her mind to use her wand for light, as her only goal then was to avoid detection and get away.

Something was nipping at her shoes, gargling even as it got close. She shrieked and ducked when something grazed against her hair, just barely escaping the grips of what looked like mandibles. Creatures seemed to be flying all around her, buzzing into the walls and ramming into each other with no sense of direction. Some scratched against her skin, trying to grab her but only able to leave red marks on her body.

Deciding she wasn't going to get out of the mess without magic, Akko turned to the only spell she knew best. "Metamorphie faciesse!" She yelled, immediately transforming into what looked like a cheetah and sprinting with all her might. While it did help to escape the beasts behind her, many more of the creatures were still funneling into the maze ahead, filling it up like liquid.

Even with the enhancements of her transformation, everything still felt dark. There was no exit and no clear path to take. The longer she held her transformation, the more aware of Diana's 'mana' explanation she became. It was as if there were some sort of alternate energy leaving her body, yet she was unable to accurately pinpoint how it felt. Unsure if she should revert to her human state, Akko kept running in the hopes of an exit. It was like she was on autopilot, turning corners without losing momentum yet not bothering to stop, plan, and think.

A crackling of thunder overhead made her ears twitch as her eyes scanned around for the clouds. There hadn't been any storm clouds all night, yet a bright flash of white lit up the entirety of the maze and very briefly caused her to lose her vision as she winced. As the creatures grew crazy at the new disruption and flew upward, Akko could see an orange hue layer on top of the hedges that would signify a fire. She guessed lighting had struck somewhere behind her, somewhere in the opposite direction of her original fire, and continued running ahead.

Akko didn't know when she had let go of the spell and reverted to normal, but it likely wasn't too long after the lightning struck. The creatures ignored her now, flying out towards the new source of light and leaving her alone. She was jogging then, out of breath as she continued down the curious path that had yet to lead towards a dead-end. When the screeching sounds reached a noticeable faint distance, Akko slowed her pace to a walk and leaned against a wall for support.

She continued though, aimlessly moving forward from how numb she felt. From then on, Akko flinched at every noise, even long after the creatures were gone and only the blissful moonlight and night sky lay overhead. _I need to find Diana_. Akko told herself, over and over each time she felt the urge to stop and rest. Reaching her first dead-end since their separation, Akko only sighed and turned back around without another thought, hoping for a better destination.

* * *

Eventually she reached some sort of square clearing with more pathways on all sides of the box, and the only thing in the middle some kind of giant plant bulb. It was a deep purple in color and looked as if it were a flower yet to bloom. There was nothing weird about it except for its size, and after a brief inspection Akko decided it wasn't worth her time. She reminded herself of her goal and looked at all the new paths she could take, unsure of what to do.

Just as she were about to pick a path and leave, in a path across from her were sounds of hastened movement that triggered her to scurry behind a nearby wall and hide. She peeked her head over to see what it was, half of her body already in motion to leave.

It may have been the familiar light spell, or even the weird mint and blonde hair, or even the exhausted, worried eyes full of thought and calculation, but the moment she saw her Akko immediately burst into tears. "Diana!"

Before Diana could completely turn to see her, Akko had already tackled her into a hug. She kept her stance somehow, the tenseness of her reflexes keeping them from falling over. "Akko!" Relief completely flushed over her. "I've been looking everywhere for you!" She tried to release herself in panic to ensure Akko's safety, but Akko's grip kept her in place. Relaxing with a sigh at Akko's apparent energy, she lowered her wand that had been raised in alarm.

Akko was sobbing into her chest, squeezing her tight as she rapidly bumbled out unintelligible words.

Diana wasn't even sure if she was speaking English anymore. Waiting for Akko to calm down, she carefully pet Akko's head in comfort. "It's okay, I'm here." Diana held on as well, holding on as tight as she was emotionally comfortable able. Fear raced through her mind and she wished to hold on forever. But knowing that was counterproductive, she pushed the thoughts aside and prioritized the other witch.

It took a few minutes of crying to get Akko to slow down to only sniffles.

"All better?"

"Y-You hug like a log!" Akko muffled into her vest.

"I have no idea what that means."

"It means you're stiff and awkward!"

Diana rolled her eyes with slight amusement appearing on her face, carefully prying Akko off her. She looked down at Akko's tear-stained face and smiled, wiping away the mess with care, "I was worried about you." Diana said with full sincerity.

Akko refused to let the hug go, "Yeah, I was worried about you too! You disappeared!"

"It wasn't intentional… In fact, it makes sense-"

"Makes sense for you to disappear?!"

"I meant the maze, Akko. It has been changing its form and that's why we could never retrace our steps." Diana looked around the square clearing, her eyes carefully observing the plant bulb right in the middle before looking back to Akko. "That was a surprising explosion of yours."

Akko blinked a few times in confusion, "What? You saw it?!"

"No, but I did see the smoke and those creatures aim to attack. I tried to use it as a smoke signal, but the maze only led me farther away no matter where I headed. It was truly maddening." Diana paused in thought, examining Akko for her injuries, "Did they attack you? What were they?"

Akko rubbed her nose as she finally let Diana go and stood normally, doing her best to contain the rest of her sniffles. She shook her head at the questions and replied, "I don't know what they were. I just got really scared and kept running until they left. They kind of nipped at me but that's about it."

"I see... Thank you for being safe."

Akko watched as the moment she released the hug Diana collapsed to her knees and faced the floor, raising an eyebrow at Diana's quickened breathing. It seemed like it wasn't only her that was mindlessly moving towards a destination, and now the brute of Diana's efforts was catching up to her. "Did you… Did you run here? Are you okay? Did you use magic?" She stared intently at Diana for answers, making sure not to miss out on body language for answers.

"I did run here, yes. And I used some minor spells mainly for sight."

"And… are you okay?"

Diana didn't respond right away. "Yes I am."

Akko pondered at her words, unsure of why Diana was in such a sorry state if she only really ran. Cautiously she reached into her backpack and pulled out one of the healing potions Professor Ursula had packed them. Akko held it ready with her thumb against the cork as she asked, "Was the lightning you?"

Another pause. "It was. But don't worr-"

Akko immediately tackled her down and forced the bottle open. "Take the potion!" She demanded, forcing the bottle closer to Diana's mouth who struggled back out of surprise and panic.

"A-Akko!" Diana fought her back, holding onto Akko's wrist that held the potion, moving her face away as it began to tip. "Stop it!"

"Take it!"

"Just calm down!"

"Not until you take it!"

Diana was in no state to properly fight her, staring fiercely at Akko's unwavering resolution. When Akko was this stubborn, she would never back down. And even yet, Akko was physically stronger than her anyway, so it was only a matter of time. "Fine! Get off me!" She snatched the potion out of Akko's hand as Akko rolled off.

Sitting up, Diana took time to compose herself with a heavy sigh with Akko watching her intently for any unplanned movement. Taking the bottle and squinting at the other girl, she drank it to make her stop pestering.

"Thank you." Akko smiled sweetly when there was no drop left inside the bottle. "Why didn't you take a potion earlier?" She asked.

"If you bothered to listen to me… I meant to say that I don't need it. I'm aware of my mana, Akko, and it's a waste to be using up the potions. What will you do if we need the potions later?"

"But you needed the potion _now_ and that's all that matters!" Akko fumed with annoyance, crossing her arms to signify she wouldn't be taking another response. Seeing Diana's annoyance and obvious lack of agreement to her argument, Akko relaxed. "Sorry. I just hate seeing you push yourself like that."

Diana calmed down, not having any reason to be irked from Akko's concerns. She held onto her chest to make sure she was alright, feeling a weight release off her shoulders as the potion took effect, "It's fine." She said with a defeated sigh, "But you really shouldn't worry about me. I'm more than capable of looking out for myself."

"Uh huh…" Akko brooded over the words in silence, not liking the thought of dropping her worry. "But, Diana," She looked straight into her eyes, "You're looking out for me too, aren't you?"

Diana only blinked at her in surprise.

"You only did that lightning spell because of me, huh?" Akko continued staring as Diana's eyes betrayed her and wavered. She gently smiled and took Diana's hand, "It's okay. I'll get stronger I promise! Then you won't have to worry anymore!"

Diana sighed and shook her head mumbling, "Even if the day comes and you surpass me, I'll still worry." Feeling the potion nearly finish what effect it had, she smiled back and stood up, dusting herself off, "Let's go." Her words were now loud and clear, back to the leadership tone to continue their expedition.

Akko opened her mouth in shock, "Surpass you?! You think I will?!"

"No. What makes you think that?"

"You just said it! You said I'm going to be the best witch!"

"Now you're really putting words in my mouth…"

"Diana _Cavendish_ thinks I'll become the greatest witch in the world! Cavendish! The big name! The big witches! Beatrix Cavendish herself is looking towards me today!"

Diana held her head as a migraine seemed to form, regretting ever opening her mouth as Akko continued yelling. She did her best to ignore her though, walking away to not give Akko's ego any more inflation.

"Are you going to be my biggest fan?! Should I sign something of yours right now?! Then you'll have limited edition Shiny Akko merch! I can sign all of your stuff right now! Don't worry, when I have my shows there will always be a front row seat especially for you, okay? That way you don't have to deal with all of the lines while you wait!" Akko finally got up and followed after Diana who was now stopped in front of the plant bulb with interest. "Then you can have a backstage pass! And maybe if you're nice I'll let you go on to stage with me! And I'll introduce you like 'And this is my friend Diana Cavendish!' and everyone will applause and fall in love with you and then there will be roses _everywhere_!"

Diana rolled her eyes at the random and sudden leap in Akko's rant, already used to the extreme imagination. "Well, you can tell them I'm not interested." She decided to half-heartedly humor with her low attention at Akko's words, studying the deep roots of the flower that just barely appeared on the surface.

"Well _obviously._ At that point we'll be together! As a dynamic Shiny Chariot spin-off sidekick duo of course! And dating is just untasteful for showbiz, I gotta say, so if you did decide to choose one of our fans, I'd have to cut your paycheck."

"…Please just focus, Akko."

Akko did quiet her voice to a low mutter as she continued daydreaming, doing very quiet explosion sounds with her mouth and a fake applause.

Diana sighed and shook her head, glad that the ringing in her ears was finally going down and the slight jump in heartrate was subsiding. She pondered at the flower in front of her, analyzing its purpose to distract from Akko's loud outburst. The more she stared, the more she could see the petals move in an odd way akin to breathing. Holding onto her wand and pointing it like an extension to her arm, Diana carefully walked around the flower to find an opening to reveal what was inside, but the 'breathing' only seemed to get louder.

"I just remembered but, by the way, you _still_ haven't told me what our mana was. How will I know how much I need to surpass you?"

"If you really want to know, all you have to do is focus."

"On… what…?"

"You, me, anything else that casts spells. Whenever you use spells, you should feel mana being used. If you focus on that, you'll be able to see the mana within yourself. Taking a similar concept, you can use that focus on someone- or something – else and see their mana as well. It requires concentration though, so it is perhaps too difficult for you, Akko-"

"Yeah yeah very funny." Akko dismissively waved her hand to stop Diana from making her jab. "-So what is this thing anyway?" She finally turned her attention towards the flower and stepped forward, placing a hand on a petal to touch it. "Oh."

Diana rubbed her temples as a vein popped, heavily sighing as the flower began to sway from the touch.

The flower lit up a bright red opposite to its dormant dark color. From it, vines began to emerge, nearly hitting them as it instead reached for the hedges of the maze on all sides. The roots were moving as well, slithering deep underneath the ground like worms and causing a low rumbly tremor as they latched onto the far hedges as well.

And in an instant, all openings closed.

The roots dug back into the ground, and the vines sunk back into the base of the flower, unmoving as the two witches wield their wands and pointed it towards the center.

Petal by petal, the massive bulb slowly began to open. It was careful, almost elegant even, that had this occurred any other day the two would just be watching in awe. Everything about the movement and petals was beautiful, captivating their interest and leaving them motionless.

Then it burst open, letting out an ear-piercing screech as a set of shark-like teeth revealed itself in the flower's center. The mood was completely ruined, snapping them out of their trance as the air became thick. Diana and Akko were forced to cover their ears as the flower screeched again, shaking their bodies to the core and paralyzing them from sound alone. Yellow powder-like substance dribbled out of the flower's mouth and the large petals spun around its body with a strong gust of wind.

"Move!"

Just as the screeching stopped, Diana tackled Akko down right as a root struck through where Akko had just been standing, nearly stabbing straight through her body.

Akko screamed as a vine barreled towards them from above, this time pushing Diana over in panic and dodging.

The flower gave another long bellowing screech in anger, hurting their heads as they were forced to listen. It hurt to move, and they held their ears against the sound, praying for it to stop. Both of them were wincing, barely able to keep their eyes open as well.

Seeing another vine lash towards them from the side, Diana struggled to force herself to raise her wand and cast a barrier spell, not fast enough to prevent the strength of impact, but enough to prevent any extreme damage that would have been their demise.

The two were sent flying from the pressure, roughly slamming into the ground and sliding a few feet away, leaving behind a few-inches-deep trail of dirt. On the positive end, the screeching had finally stopped again, and they groaned as their muscles relaxed and mobility returned.

"Get up!" Akko was first to recover, taking Diana by the arms and hoisting her up. It proved futile as another vine whipped towards them again from a different side, forcing Diana to throw another barrier spell that sent them back into the floor on the other side of the square clearing.

Akko spat out a small amount of blood as she groaned, trying to stop the pounding in her head that blurred her vision. She shook it off faster than before, immediately dragging Diana, who suffered the same injuries yet struggled a lot more to keep her stance, to her feet. They just needed a moment to heal, but with a tremor below them getting stronger with each passing second, Akko sprinted off with Diana in hand.

A root burst through the earth where they had been laying, sharp and pointed and reaching high into the sky. Not in the mood to be skewered like a kebab, Akko continued running as another root shot out right behind them.

Diana shook her head, barely able to keep up with Akko's pace. Her ears were still ringing, and everything hurt, but slowly her senses were starting to recover. "Akko, the flower…!" She managed to mutter, looked at the centered flower that flashed between colors of it's active and dormant reds. Carefully twirling her wand in a circle, green sparkles fell upon the two of them, and slowly their pain subsided.

Akko took notice of the rather weak healing spell that Diana used, eyeing the flower as well as the vines prepared for another strike, lifting in the air like a mob of snakes watching their prey. She took not a second more to think, pointing her wand straight at the flower bulb and chanting, "IGNIS!" Like before, a fireball shot out from her wand towards the flower but was easily swatted away and extinguished by a vine before it could make impact. "Aw what the hell!"

The petals of the flower opened and closed, as if it were mocking and laughing at the spell much to Akko's irritation.

"We need to get closer!"

"On it!" Akko immediately swerved from her sideways run, aiming right at the flower with her wand pointed forward.

This time as a vine whipped down at them, Diana instead shouted, "Murowa!" and an explosive bolt shot out and landed a direct hit. The vine exploded and eroded where it had been hit, leaving behind an empty gash and smell of burning leaves as ash rained down from above.

The flower began its screech of pain as all of the vines retracted on reflex, but before it could reach the acoustic force of paralyzation, Akko chanted "IGNIS!" once more and a fireball shot out at a faster speed and bigger size. They were about halfway from their distance to the flower, and nothing was in the path of her trajectory to stop it this time with the vines distracted from its burnt limb.

Akko was sure the fireball would make contact and burst everything into flames, but just before it could, a petal of the flower sprouted straight up like a barrier and took the force instead. Getting a sense of déjà vu, her jaw dropped and she skid their run to a stop as the fire slowly died out leaving no noticeable dent in the surface it hit. "You've got to be kidding me…"

Diana, too, was in surprise, taking the lead and dragging Akko to another side opposite to the grown shield of the flower and chanting, "Murowa!" She used a weaker spell though, and a small green bolt shot out towards the flower. Just like before, another petal lifted up to take the force instead while the other fell back onto the dirt.

"It has a freaking force field!"

The petals of the flower opened and closed again, this time at a faster rate as the bulb even changed colors. If monstrous flowers could laugh, this was how they would do it.

Akko grew cross, pulling Diana to another side and chanting, "IGNIS!" yet again. It was the same results as before as more petals moved to block the explosion. She tsked, running to another side and trying the spell again to no avail.

"Akko, that won't work!" Diana took a moment to think. The farther they are, the more likely their spells would be disrupted. The closer they get, the flower instead resorts to using the rather impenetrable walls of its petals. Getting too close would just be a danger, and she refused to let them find out how sharp the teeth of the flower were.

What was the solution?

As she was planning their next move, the flower completely opened up its petals again and began to spin. A strong gust of wind was forming as the petals spun faster around the opening, and they watched, confused.

"Watch out!" Akko yelled and pushed her to duck as a vine swung overhead. She dragged them out of the way as a root burst from the floor right after the vine nearly hit them and ducked again as another vine swung back. The attacks of the flower were picking up speed now, and it took all their efforts to dodge.

Diana was quickly filing through her thoughts as they dodged, rushed in searching for the answer. The only thing left to try was a strong enough spell that would prove any blocking efforts of the flower futile, but that would require so much of her mana that it was really illogical in the long term, and she could not confirm if it would even work. What if the petals were indestructible? The flower would only need to close all sides to be protected. But as it was the only solution she could make after countless thought processes, then perhaps it was truly the choice to-

Diana's eyes widened as she took notice of the yellow-powder of the flower's mouth coat the ever-spinning petals that continued to pick up speed. Before she could warn Akko and do something about it, the powder flung out in all directions in weird clumps, and she instead pushed Akko down to escape the projectiles. Though, she wasn't fast enough to completely avoid it herself, and one of the shots smacked a thick layer of powder across her eyes and flung her back.

"Diana!" Akko screamed out, scrambling to get to the other witch who was attempting to wipe her face with her arm. For all she knew the powder could have been poison, or even acid-like, quickly to dissolve away at whatever it touched.

"I'm-I'm fine!" Diana waved her off, struggling to remove the powder that now completely blinded her. It was slowly rubbing off, but for some reason stayed stuck almost like glue, and she couldn't completely remove enough to see again in time.

Before either of them could use magic, the flower let out another blood-curdling screech that paralyzed anything in its proximity. Diana and Akko covered their ears and grinded their teeth as the screeching continued much louder than it had been before.

It only stopped when Diana yelled out, "Akko!" and once Akko regained her senses, she looked to where Diana had just been kneeling to find nothing there. Spinning around for the source of the voice, Akko looked up to see Diana suspended in the air from a vine.

Diana struggled against the vine that slithered and wrapped around her, pulling at the powder stuck to her eyes with what little mobility she had left. "Just stay somewhere safe!" She commanded, fighting against the trap to break herself free as she attempted to return her eyesight.

"As if I could!" Akko scooped herself up, dodging an incoming vine that attempted to immobilize her too. She watched in panic as the vine holding Diana held her right over the flower's mouth that now stretched open to reveal a wider array of teeth. It seemed Diana was aware of the predicament as well, not casting any spells that would free her and instead focusing on her eyes that were starting to at least be seen again.

What to do?!

Akko yelped as she jumped above a vine that attempted a low swing at her legs, scrambling around the flower as the vine around Diana slowly unraveled. A root breached out of the floor again, high into the sky like before. The plan was simple: Prevent Diana from being eaten. Save Diana... Kill the… flower? Somehow?

Akko ducked as another vine slammed overhead sending dust and debris in all directions, frantically looking around for any ideas or clues on how to actually execute her plan. Another root broke open the earth where she had just been, and she watched as the root grew so high that it bent over for weight distribution at the top. In fact, all of the roots so far had bent over, hanging overhead the flower's mouth.

And just like that, a lightbulb switched on in her head. "Hey you gross ugly flower! Your maze _sucks_! Also I'm a lot more rewarding to eat than Diana! Because look! You can't even catch me!"

The flower quickly flashed between red hues from her words, and noticeably the attacks became more forceful and blinded by rage. Akko was now constantly ducking and jumping as multiple vines attacked at once, but she fist-pumped to see the vine holding Diana had momentarily stopped in its release of its prey. She waited for the signaling rumble of a root, doing her best to keep her composure until then as she essentially circled the flower.

Finally, the familiar earthquake underneath her feet occurred, and just before it broke open Akko ducked and jumped to the side as vines slammed into each other and tangled. The root erupted then. And instead of running away, Akko dodged and immediately latched on just as it did and shot all the way up until it bent over. She took a deep breath and balanced herself, standing on top of the now stagnant root that was directly overhead the opened mouth.

From her view, she could see Diana looking up in shock with barely an eye freed from the powder, and still partially glazed over at that. "What are you doing?!" Diana yelled at her, now preparing to cast a spell to break herself free in time for one of Akko's terrible ideas.

"Get ready, Diana! Don't cast anything until my cue!"

" _What_?! Get down from there!"

Akko ignored the yelling, prepping herself by doing brief breathing exercises. She patted the backpack behind her, contemplating her choices with a shrug. Then she held out her arms.

And jumped.

"AKKO!"

Akko dove towards the flower's jaw as it opened wider to accept its offering, and the vine holding Diana even moved out of the way. There was nothing in her path to block her as the flower readied itself for a bite. Despite the screams from her friend, there was no fear or hesitation in her actions, and she was ready to face her foe head-on.

"Take _this_!" She immediately yanked the backpack off her body and spun, flinging the backpack as hard as she could towards the mouth. The flower screeched as its mouth snapped shut on the backpack instead, tearing it to shreds in a single bite. As quick as she could before the flower could reopen, she casted "Murowa!" towards base of the vine that held Diana, and casted another spell that broke her own fall as she landed directly on the closed mouth and held it together herself. The flower was fighting against her, pulling open its jagged mouth as Akko dug her nails into the lips and held it shut as much as she was able.

The deceased vine began to disintegrate from Diana then, slowly freeing her from its grasp for her to fall in pursuit.

The flower gave muffled screeches as it thrashed around trying to rip Akko off, and all of the vines and roots headed straight for the small human preventing its next meal. Akko grunted as the flower overpowered her gradually creaking open to reveal its teeth again like a sinister grin. The moment Akko were to let go it would be over, and she could feel her nails scraping through the body and loosening as the flower forced itself to open. "Diana!"

"IGNIS!" Diana fired the spell straight into the opening jaws, and a rapid, continuous explosion could be heard as it traveled deeper into the body. The flower was set ablaze from the inside, eating away what was left of its sentience.

Akko stood her ground as the explosion blasted so close to her, holding on until the squirms and screeches of the flower faded into silence. There were no more earthquakes and no more wind then. In fact, everything was just quiet, eerily quiet even that she was unsure if she was actually still conscious.

She waited a few more seconds with her eyes squeezed shut, putting force on the limply closed mouth for no reason in the case it was to come back alive.

"Akko."

"Yeah?"

"You can let go now."

"Ah." Akko peeked her eyes open to see Diana's outreached hand as Diana had already made her way to the floor. She released her grip from the mouth, wiping away the green residue left on her fingers onto her skirt. Taking Diana's hand, Akko slid off of one of the giant petals and dusted herself off. It took a few more seconds for her to process what had truly happened, but when she finally did Akko broke out into a huge smile. She turned to Diana who was carefully still wiping her partially covered eyes, and threw her arms open for a hug, "WE DID I-!"

"Atsuko Kagari!"

Just as she lunged forward for a tackle, Diana stopped her mid-way with a not-so-congratulatory look. In fact, she looked _pissed_.

"Eh?" Akko blinked a few times from the surprise of hearing her full name.

Diana fumed with rage, glaring hard at the girl before her. "You reckless, insufferable, inconsiderate-!"

"H-Huh?!"

"Don't 'Huh' me! What were you _thinking_?!"

"T-Thinking?! This doesn't sound very thankful!"

"There's nothing to thank for! You never stop and think for a second, Akko!"

Akko stood straight with her eyebrows furrowed. Diana's glare was ice-cold, glowing even from the deep blue of the color of her eyes. But from how pissed she was too now, Akko was sure her crimson burned a bright red to retaliated. "My plan saved our lives! You couldn't even save yourself!"

Diana clenched her teeth, and her words spat out like venom, "Your ' _plan_ ' was idiotic. Not only did you waste half of our supply of items, but you had _no_ reason to think that plan would have even worked! Just a second more and-!" She stopped, biting her lip with a tsk.

Akko pointed her finger accusingly, jabbing it into Diana's chest, "Well it worked didn't it?! So what the hell is your problem?!"

The air was thick as the two stared at each other for a few seconds more. Neither of them faltered, standing their ground and holding strongly onto their opinions. Diana was first to move, slapping Akko's hand away from her body.

"You know what? Forget it."

Akko watched as Diana stormed off past her without another glance. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, mocking Diana's words under her breath. Even so, she followed in reasonable distance as the maze cleared a single path as it decayed.

Before exiting the square clearing, Akko slowed down to notice the burning pain and stickiness against her side. Pulling the fabric of her vest towards her stomach so she could see what might have been going on, she found a gaping hole in her clothes covered in blood. Blinking a few times, Akko reached to touch her skin where a small puncture dribbled out another drop of blood and winced.

It didn't hurt enough for it to be of immediate warning, but Akko turned back to the flower anyway. There the flower lay, frozen in its place with its vines and roots sticking out towards its center as if it were a recently deceased spider. Pinpointing where she had been holding onto the mouth, she was surprised to find that from all angles she would have been pierced straight through. One of the roots was close enough to hit, and that was the mark that now currently resided on her body.

Sighing, Akko turned back around towards Diana, who hadn't stopped to wait, and ran after her.


	5. To Be Honest

Akko fumed with annoyance as she kept her distance from the witch in front of her. _Who does she think she is_?! Kicking rocks out of the way as she walked, Akko marched on while looking at the floor. She kept glancing up at Diana with momentary concern but would turn again and cross her arms to stand her ground.

It made no sense for Diana to be so irritated at her, in fact, she did nothing wrong! Except… maybe lose half of their supplies… but it was for a _good cause_ …! A winning cause…! So no reason to be so uptight! Is that why Diana is so angry? The supplies? ' _I guess she was keen on making sure we kept everything together… but still!'_

Akko pouted some more, biting her tongue to avoid the argument she pent up inside her head. For some reason, it made her madder that Diana wouldn't turn around. She glanced up again at the other witch, begrudgingly following behind as Diana kept the same pace without stopping or asking for help, even when the terrain shifted in difficulty. She was sure Diana was still missing part of her eyesight, yet Diana carried on despite her handicap, briefly checking the map and stowing it away. _Can you even see the map?!_

Shaking her head to snap out of the worried thoughts, Akko furrowed her eyebrows and looked back at the ground with a _'hmph!'_

Then she looked up again. It was the same cycle.

Standing at the base of a small ledge, Akko waited and watched as Diana struggled to climb up herself, resisting the urge to offer help upon remembering the large tree trunk they had to cross hours ago. She hoped Diana would just turn around and ask for the help instead, but it seemed the chances were low, and Akko only grew more impatient. If anything, it felt as if Diana was just doing everything herself out of spite, especially since they've barely stopped for a much-needed break since they started the journey. _Was she always this stubborn?!_ Pouting again, Akko turned her head as her eyebrow twitched.

Staring at the rest of the forest uninterestedly, Akko tilted her head at a soft glow in the distance. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, but it disappeared when she reopened. Taking a step towards it, her thoughts were disrupted when a low tremor began.

Her attention snapped back to Diana who was frozen in place with almost half her body on top of the ledge, squinting a little to see a familiar blue light emit where Diana was touching.

"Akko, get off the floor!"

Eyes widening, Akko immediately jumped and latched onto a nearby tree at the command as a square cutout of a hole appeared where she had just been standing. She watched as Diana flipped herself entirely onto the ledge, also dodging a hole that appeared where she had been laying. They both let out a breath of relief staring at their respective pits, imagining the long tunnel slide they had to go through before and the trap that nearly cost them their lives.

"Diana!"

Diana barely had enough time to look up before _another_ square pit appeared beneath her feet. Likewise, another pit appeared underneath Akko and part of the tree she was latched onto, and the only part of the tree she was touching disintegrated, leaving her to fall along.

* * *

Diana was first to exit the slide again, rolling the same way she had the first time onto stone. Avoiding the known situation that would repeat, she ignored her subsiding pain and immediately moved to the side as Akko came tumbling out as well. Diana rushed back towards the entrance just as it slammed shut, cursing at herself for her lack of timing.

Akko groaned on the floor, holding onto her head in agony with Diana still trying to reopen the door. Instead of a low red light illuminating the room like last time, it was instead a warm yellow, akin to if they were stuck inside a cave with only a lantern in the center to guide them. The room was another box, albeit much larger in size, and they prepared themselves for another swim, this time knowing how to exit unlike the last. Diana scanned the top of the room for the escape hatch, waiting for the water to gush through and fill up so that they could move on and leave.

But no matter how many minutes passed, there was no water.

Akko sat in the center of the room, watching as Diana restlessly paced around the room with a hand over her mouth in thought. Diana would graze her hand across the wall without breaking her concentration from the ceiling, walking in circles a few times as if studying its structure.

'… _no space for… - …but even so… -… internal design… -'_

"Uh... What?" Akko picked at her ears, confused, as she just barely made out the voice that spoke. "I couldn't hear you very well." She said, scratching her head wondering if the screeches from the flower had partially deafened her.

Diana didn't turn to look at her, but still at least replied, "I didn't say anything…"

"I'm pretty sure you did…"

"No. I didn't."

"Uh… Yes, you did that was clearly your voice."

"If this is one of your jokes, I swear, Akko-"

"Fine. Whatever." Akko exaggerated her hands up in defeat, turning her back towards Diana in anger. She crossed her arms and huddled herself in her spot, listening to Diana's footsteps make another lap around the room. Every time Diana would appear in her view, Akko would spin herself around to avoid looking at her.

Just barely she could make out the sudden whisper, '…- _immature_ …' and Akko immediately whirled around and yelled, "You're immature!" She retorted back, glaring hard while halfway up from her seat.

Diana jumped in surprise, blinking a few times and staring back in confusion at the anger in front of her, "I didn't say _anything._ "

Akko got up from the floor, marching over as she argued, "Yes, you did! You said I was immature!" She stood face front with her hands on her hips.

"No, I _didn't_. I was thinking it, yes, but-" Diana caught her own words with a slight gasp in disbelief, _'You can hear me._ '

"What, you a ventriloquist now?!"

' _You're an idiot.'_

"And you're annoying! You're snobby and mean and-!"

"It's telepathy, Akko… You can hear my thoughts and, I'm sure, vice versa. Though, there _obviously_ doesn't seem to be any thoughts for me to listen to, clearly."

Akko stamped her foot at the other witch who was now crossing her arms and glaring back. "Why do you have to be so condescending?!"

Diana's eyebrow twitched. Under normal circumstances she would just drop the subject and focus on their goal of escape, knowing when it was time to stop adding fuel to a fire. Unfortunately, these were not normal circumstances, and she had no control over thinking before acting as the thoughts came out first. _'Why do you have to be so blockheaded?!'_

"Listen here, _Cavendish_! And your fancy-pansy British name!"

' _It's just my surname…'_

"You know what your problem is? You think you're better than everyone! You're just mad that my plan worked, and we didn't follow whatever weird blueprint you have stuck inside your head!"

Diana stepped forward, radiating fury that Akko had no choice but to step back. They were face to face then, staring each other down like before. _'You really are an idiot.'_

"I _hate_ when you call me that!"

"You know what _your_ problem is, Akko? You're reckless and close-minded! This isn't something as shallow as 'who's plan worked when' and your obsession with rivalry! I hate the way you act and assume any and all of your ideas are good ideas-"

"If my ideas _work_ then there's no problems! Is it the stuff?! Are you mad about our supplies?! I don't need them then, okay?! I just lost my share and that's it! You can use whatever you want in your backpack without me, I don't care-!"

"Do you ever wonder about the consequences of your actions?! What happens if your plans backfire? What would happen if-!"

"Well the _consequences_ of my _actions_ saved you! We don't always have time to stand around thinking about what to do! Look what happened to your eyes-!"

' _What happened to my eyes has nothing to do with this-'_

"It has everything to do with this! You keep hounding me for not 'thinking ahead' when _your_ 'thinking ahead' got you in trouble-!"

"This is about you throwing yourself into danger without any regard for _anything_. You left it all up to chance and luck, gambling our victory on a high stake-"

"I don't know what you're saying! My plan worked so why are so mad-!"

"It _only_ worked because-"

"That doesn't matter if-!"

"Akko, stop speaking over me-"

"Then you stop speaking over-!"

"I'm trying to get you to understand my-"

"Your words are not any more important than mi-!"

' _You're not understanding me!'_ Diana increasingly revealed her levels of stress the more Akko spoke and the more they yelled. This was probably the most frustrated she's ever been, and the exposed thoughts did not help in letting her calm herself first. For some reason it only forced herself to vocally argue more, as if leaving it to her thoughts to reveal only proved that she had no control over the situation whatsoever.

Akko continued, blinded by an unknown pain she felt deep inside her chest. "Then why don't you explain better?!" She wanted to stop yelling, but everything just _hurt_ that she couldn't control it. "You assume everyone can think like you do! We all aren't child prodigy geniuses, so _what is it?!_ "

' _You almost died!'_

A silence took over as the two warily stared into each other's eyes, somehow ending up only a few inches away from each other during the argument.

Akko paused at the unwanted outburst, halting her anger into confusion and concern as Diana looked extremely frustrated that she couldn't contain what she was thinking. She watched the blue irises quiver in their place in panic in which she finally noticed, _'You were crying.'_

Diana finally backed off from their stand-off and looked away, taking a deep breath to calm her emotions. She only shook her head and sighed, calmly muttering the words, "I'm fine." _'Please stop listening.'_ In contrast, her thoughts were in pain, and she walked away to the opposite corner of the room and sat down, leaning her head against the wall in defeat. "Can you hear my thoughts?"

Akko waited and listened but was only met with silence. "No, I can't."

"Good." Diana let her breath go, holding onto her forehead to battle a heavy migraine.

Akko went to sit down in her own corner, parallel to Diana's, watching as Diana closed her eyes and relaxed. She huddled her knees up to her face and held them, repeating the words she heard in her head, and picturing the unwillingly red, swollen eyes in contrast to the brilliant depths of blue that she had only wished she noticed earlier.

* * *

A long amount of time transpired since then as they both sat in the box in silence. Nothing had showed up in the room to kill them yet, but no exit revealed itself either in the time lapsed. Akko figured the trick had something to do with their telepathy, but couldn't pinpoint what it was on her own. She instead solemnly traced her finger in different shapes through the dust on the floor, occasionally stealing a glance at Diana across from her.

Diana seemed worn out, both mentally and physically that at least they were finally getting their much spoken about break, though unplanned in its timing. She breathed slow and steady; eyes closed as if she were tranquil and at peace.

Diana hadn't really moved since she first sat down, and, ironically, Akko wondered what she was thinking, knowing this was the only true chance to find out. Akko traced some more pictures in the floor and erased them with her foot, taking a deep breath and stretching rather dramatically. It was then that she finally decided to ask, "…Are you awake?"

"I wasn't sleeping."

"Oh."

Another silence.

"Can I… come over there…?"

Diana opened an eye to observe Akko carefully, "That isn't a smart choice." She reminded, but her words left the invitation up to debate. "I can't guarantee that you won't get upset." Diana closed her eyes again, focusing on her recovery and leaving the choice in the open.

Akko pondered the words, weighing the options in her head, and decided to begin her slow scoot over.

' _Oh, you are coming.'_

She sat about a foot away from her, leaning against the wall as well and awkwardly tapping her feet, listening to Diana wonder about why she came to sit before asking, "Have you… figured out how to get out?"

"Unfortunately, no. I'm unsure how telepathy would link towards revealing an exit."

"Yeah… same." Akko tapped her feet some more, again listening to Diana's exposed thoughts as she planned out more of the room layout. She took a deep breath and stopped her fidgeting, turning away from Diana and thinking, _'I'm sorry… for yelling at you...'_

"Apologies are more effective when said out loud."

"You know what-!" Akko turned back to face her, but immediately began to dial down her outburst upon notice. It was the exact opposite of what she wanted to happen when she scooted over. She crossed her arms in annoyance, biting her tongue to keep silent until she was calm, and her thoughts were filled with a mental battle against herself.

' _I apologize for yelling at you too_.'

Akko did calm down from the invading voice, staring at Diana with a raised eyebrow. She couldn't help but break into a slight grin then, despite Diana still relaxed in her unwavering serious composure, "I thought apologies are more effective when said out loud?"

Diana only shrugged, earning a giggle as Akko went back to drawing on the floor.

"I really am sorry." Akko began with her words, letting it come out naturally after a few more minutes passed, "I didn't know I hurt you that much. I mean, you're like _really strong_ so I must have _really messed up_ if I made you cry." She drew a little stick-figure doodle of herself, and softly smiled at the giant smile she gave it.

Diana shook her head and deeply sighed, finally opening her eyes to look at her. "I'm really not as 'strong' as you think. I've been upset multiple times where I believed you were in danger."

"Let me guess, all those times were when I really messed up."

Diana stifled a laugh, "No, most were not of your doing." ' _Can we please stop talking about me crying?'_ She groaned as the words spilled out, holding onto her head in annoyance.

Akko hummed as she drew some more, pouting a little as she murmured, "…Do you really think I'm an idiot…?" She braced herself, trying to distract from what she would hear by drawing.

"Not always, no."

"But sometimes…?"

"It's not any different from when I think I, myself, am being idiotic."

Akko scoffed with a laugh, "As if."

Diana shrugged, "It's true." She looked up to the ceiling, resting her head against the wall, "I do think you have… creative thoughts-"

' _That's just a fancy way of saying I'm an idiot…'_

"-But that's not necessarily a bad thing." Diana finished, ignoring the deprecated thoughts. "I actually admire your ability to think outside the box… despite my constant questioning of your thought process. To say you are an 'idiot' at anything I don't understand myself would be unfair to who you are."

Akko paused at the praise, playing it over and over in her head that it wasn't until Diana slightly laughed that she remembered she could be heard. "So… you see me as equal then…?" She mumbled with hope.

"As a person? Yes." Diana paused, hesitantly deciding to add, "As rivals? No."

"Rivals!" Akko's mood immediately shifted to upbeat and she beamed at the opportunity, whipping to the side with a big sparkly grin, "You think we are?!"

"No, it was a joke."

"Why?!"

"I was sure it would cheer you up."

' _Dammit, you got me.'_

"Crude language..."

"I can't control my thoughts… Also, I said 'hell' like fifty times, and you didn't have a complaint then."

"You have said it twice today. -Or actually thrice now."

"Ew what are you? A grandma? Who says 'thrice' anymore?"

Diana just calmly shook her head with a smile, looking back down to Akko's nearly completed doodle on the floor. While it was honestly… odd-looking for its skill level, something about the two stick figures holding hands gave her warmth, and she affectionately looked at Akko focusing rather hard on the drawing without a care in the world, _"_ You really are interesting."

Akko puckered her lips, not taking her eyes off the floor as she drew, "Like… like a good interesting or… like… Sucy enjoying being eaten alive interesting…?"

"Perhaps both?"

"I-I don't know how to feel about that..."

' _I want to know more about you.'_ Diana jumped at the thought as it spilled out, holding onto her mouth as if it would help. ' _I really hate this… I want it to stop.'_ She seethed at the next words that unwillingly came out, standing up to head towards the opposite side of the room again.

Before she could move though, Akko grabbed her hand and pulled her back, "No no no! This is good!"

' _How is this good?!'_

"We have very bad communication, right? So, maybe this is our chance to fix our problem! I came over here to know what you were thinking." Akko pouted at her with big puppy-dog eyes, tugging at her hand trying to get Diana to sit back down.

"While I do agree we need to settle our disagreements, doing so by telepathy is a _terrible idea_."

"Just a little bit, please?"

Diana winced at the helpless sound in Akko's voice, studying the pout and the drawing on the floor. She gave a regrettable sigh, calmly sitting back down in her seat and motioning Akko to continue. _'I hate this.'_

Akko couldn't help but laugh seeing her sit down rather normally. There was nothing wrong with the way she sat, or the way she complied, but so far Diana's thoughts had been opposite to what she showed externally. In an odd way, it helped Akko understand that maybe Diana wasn't always as calm and collected as she made out to be. _'You are so weird.'_

"I will leave."

Akko brushed her off with a smile, turning her body completely to prove she meant business. She cleared her throat and furrowed her brows, staring hard at the other witch to announce that she had entered Serious Mode.

' _You look ridiculous.'_ Diana just side-eyed her disinterestedly, waiting for Akko to initiate her plan.

"So… what are you thinking?"

' _Akko, you can hear what I'm thinking…'_

"But like… what are you _really_ thinking?"

' _That this is a terrible idea.'_

"Aside from that."

' _That you have terrible ideas.'_

"Yeah that's it! That's the whole problem! Explain please!"

Diana shuffled in discomfort at Akko's responses to her thoughts, coughing a little to clear her throat. Hoping to keep in some form of control just to preserve her sanity, she instead said out loud, "I really dislike your method of problem solving. You don't seem to have any regard for your own wellbeing."

"But it's fine because it's for the greater good? Like, sometimes someone has to take the hit or accept the hardest parts for everyone to move on, ya know? Kinda like how we're even on this quest in the first place."

"There are some parts to that argument that I concur." _'But in this scenario, that is still selfish thinking_.'

Akko scratched her head, confused, _'How is it selfish if actions are selfless?'_

"While you may worry about yourself less, Akko, you're really not considering everyone else. I was never upset that your plan itself was chaotic, as sometimes good plans take a bit of imagination, but rather the fear that I wasn't going to make it in time to save you scared me. Watching you nearly die was one of my biggest nightmares come true and it's selfish that you-" Diana immediately shut up and held her mouth, ' _That is not what I wanted to say at all.'_ She instinctively held her mouth with her other hand as well at the exposed thought, cursing at herself remembering their predicament.

"Wait wait finish your sentence! Why is it selfish?!" Akko pushed her on with a groan, trying to properly understand the argument.

Diana squeezed her eyes shut, knowing Akko was going to get it out of her anyway, _'-that… you didn't consider my feelings as well.'_ She immediately stood up, speed-walking all the way to the other side of the box and sitting down from embarrassment.

Akko processed her words, hearing the imaginary clicks of the gears of her brain begin to turn. "It's selfish because I didn't think about what you wanted?" She asked while rewording to her understanding, a little louder from their new distance earning a small nod. "But isn't it also selfish for you to want me to think about what you want?"

"Never mind, Akko... I'm sure had you been with anyone else on this journey, they would have commended you for your bravery..."

Akko hummed in response, still pondering the meaning behind her words. She studied Diana, figuring she was better at understanding people from their actions. But with Diana so focused on keeping everything controlled, Akko couldn't read her as well as she liked. There was only one way for her to find out the truth, and Akko got up to walk over and sit down with her. "You know…" She started with a soft smile, "You get really worried about me, huh? I think I get what you mean."

"Do you?" Diana eyed her questionably.

"Yeah. I'd be so mad if you died. And probably really freaked out if it was up to me to save you, and then failed." She kicked her legs a little, "I'd probably even blame myself for it."

' _Well, it's a good thing at least my plans don't include me dying then.'_

"Heyyy… You've got to give me _some_ credit at least! It's not like I want to die! In fact, I only did what I did because I knew you'd save me!"

' _Really now.'_

"Yeah! I saw you dangling there, and I was like: 'I'm gonna free her and bam she'll save me'!"

' _No, you didn't.'_

"Okay I didn't. But it was a subconscious thought, I'm sure." Akko held out her hand, leaving it reached out in compromise, "We're in this together, yeah? I won't go anywhere without you. So you don't have to worry." She gave a cheeky grin, waiting for the hand to take hers.

Diana squinted at her, ' _Bold choice of words considering the amount of times you've ran off without me.'_

"It's not my fault you're so slow."

Diana rolled her eyes at the sudden contradiction, even if it was more of a joke, and sighed at Akko waving her hand and wiggling her fingers trying to get her to take it. "If it's really a promise you intend to keep…" Diana gingerly reached for agreement, pausing a little before making contact. She pursed her lips, placing her hand over and instead guiding Akko's hand upward so that their palms correctly pressed together. Smiling at Akko's confusion, Diana carefully intertwined their fingers. "…then I suppose I have no reason to deny."

Akko took a second to process what had happened, but she beamed, holding on tightly onto the hand to remove what was left of the space between them, "Yes! I promise I won't die! Ever!"

"That's not how that works, but I appreciate the effort."

"Yes it is! This way you don't have to worry about me! This promise is proof that I'll be okay!" Akko placed her other hand on top of their bond, shaking it up and down as if proof the contract was sealed. She watched Diana shake her head and roll her eyes at her words with interest, and something about their hand-holding felt very much different than all of the other times they've held hands. _'Hmm… I am very confused.'_

"Why so?"

"Oh. I forgot you could hear me. Also, I have no idea, I think we've just entered another level of friendship. Kinda like when you unlock an achievement in a game, you know?"

"No, I don't."

"You're missing out. We're definitely playing games after this whole thing."

Diana studied Akko's torso, half-listening to Akko ramble in her head about the different games they would play. Releasing her hand from Akko's, she instead reached over to the area of Akko's vest that was a darker shade compared to the rest. Carefully, Diana pulled the fabric up.

"HuH?!"

Diana took out her wand at the small, partially blood dried puncture on Akko's side, casting a very small healing spell. "There we go." She nodded, satisfied, letting go of a burden that had weighed on her mind.

' _O-oh you were healing me.'_

"Yes I was."

Akko pulled her shirt up herself, poking at the blood clots that now had no source for. She smiled, peeling them off of her skin to feel the smooth flesh underneath that had no marks for her injury. "Thanks! You have a knack for healing spells, huh? Or is that really just a _Cavendish_ gift."

Diana chuckled at the joke, "I have a 'knack' for all spells."

"You also have a knack for having a big head."

"Have you perhaps looked in a mirror before?" She pondered at the words about her heritage, deciding the hypothetical wasn't too farfetched to imagine "But perhaps my ancestors did bless me with healing abilities, who's to say."

Akko rubbed against her spot with glee, in awe that the pain had completely and instantaneously subsided. "Man, I wish I was a Cavendish then! I would have so many blessings!"

"Yes, Akko, and you would need _each_ and _every_ one of them."

"Let me guess, they blessed you with sarcasm too?"

"Just something I was born with."

The two stared hard at each other before breaking out into fits of giggles at their lighthearted banter. Both felt relief as the tension between them was no more, and, for the most part, things felt back to the way they were before.

Out of nowhere, breaking her laugh abruptly, Akko gasped and turned to Diana, staring her straight in the eyes with a stern focused gaze. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her crimson pupils scanned Diana's face, mainly focusing above her nose.

' _Wh-what…'_ Diana awkwardly looked away from the sudden intense stare, shifting uncomfortably in her seat, "Yes…?"

Taking Diana's face, Akko pulled her closer and just stared mere inches away from her own. Their noses were just barely touching as Akko squished Diana's cheeks, looking at her eyes.

Diana seemed more shocked than anything, unable to look away as her eyes widened and she stared back.

Suddenly, Akko forcefully turned Diana's head to the side, using her other hand to push the locks of blonde out of the way to get a closer look.

' _Ow.'_

Akko quickly turned her head the other way, doing the same thing to the other side.

' _Ow.'_

Finally letting go of Diana's chin, Akko immediately took her own sleeve, pulling it up a little to cover most of her hand. She balled the fabric up in her fist, and reached over, beginning her very careful wipes around Diana's eyes, doing her best not to irritate the soft and sensitive skin.

Diana winced as the cloth lightly brushed against her tear duct, but she said no words as Akko worked, blankly staring at the intense concentration of red before her.

Akko paid her no mind, brushing off every bit and piece of the sticky pollen that had blinded Diana in their dire situation. "You know, Diana?" She softly spoke, "Thanks for always looking out for me." It only took a few minutes at most to get rid of everything, Akko finishing by licking her thumb and wiping off the last smudge on Diana's cheekbone. She backed off with a satisfied smile as if she had just completed a painstakingly long painting, "There!"

It was then that Akko finally noticed that for the past few minutes it had been completely silent of words. There were no exposed thoughts for her to hear, and oddly enough it was instead replaced with a constant buzz. She scratched her head in confusion, observing Diana who truthfully just looked like she short-circuited, and opened her mouth to question.

A low rumble against the floor stopped her in her words, and to their side a different light began to take over as the yellow dimmed. A door was opening, revealing a short staircase out back into the forest.

"Diana look!" Akko excitedly pointed, snapping Diana out of the trance as she took her hand and pulled her up to her feet. "Let's go!"

Diana blinked a few times to gather her surroundings but nodded and followed along as Akko dragged her out of the wretched box, and their telepathy was no more. She stared, dazed at the large crimson eyes full of life and hope burned into her memory, and the large toothy smile that always followed with them.

She didn't understand how Akko could be so positive even in the worst scenarios, but something about it oddly relaxed her despite her desire for caution and control. Akko was her foil, and it was _only_ Akko who could make her so angry, so irritated, so _reckless_ , so panicked, so fearful, so… happy. So comfortable. So humorous. So thoughtful. So fun. So sarcastic. So… free…

As she stared at the familiar trees only getting closer with each step, Diana looked back at the joyful head bounce of the brunette in front of her and listened to the carefree giggle that nothing else in the world could compare to its melody.

Diana smiled a melancholy smile, knowing firsthand what it meant to let her desires go, and she knew that their promise had layered meanings to her and only her. _'Won't go anywhere without you'_ Akko had promised her. But how long was that promise for? Until the end of the journey? Then what? She sighed and shook her head at the hopeless cause, satisfied that at least for a moment she could pretend that Akko meant what she wanted.

Even so, her selfish desires were not what she was supposed to focus on right now, and she shoved them deep into the back of her mind. Diana furrowed her eyebrows and eyed the forest in determination and anger, vowing to protect Akko no matter the cost.

"Thank you."

Akko turned around and grinned, "Sure! That powder was super nasty I have no idea how you handled it for so long."


	6. Don't Lose Me

"Akko! Why?!"

"It's not my fauuuuuult!"

Diana hastily got up off the floor, wiping the residue of mud off her face as Akko's scream faded farther into the distance. She dashed off into a full sprint towards the voice, staring up at the flock of bird-like creatures flying overhead, screeching and cawing as they ignored the witch in pursuit on foot. With the soft sun beginning to rise after the long sleepless night, Diana was thankful her range of sight increased, and that she could actually see what was going on above her.

Akko was dangling upside-down, high overhead with one of her legs trapped in the talons of the largest of the flock of beasts. They were these ugly creatures, a mixture of bird and human features that abled them the ability of flight. The brown of their feathers matched the long mane of their hair with their thin bird legs much closer to gold. Their jaws outstretched to form a sort of beak combination, and truthfully the only 'human' features about them were their bare torsos and the structure of their skulls.

Diana had only read of these types of creatures in outdated books. But seeing them up close easily confirmed her suspicions of what they were.

 _Harpies_.

"Ow OW! Talons! Watch the talons! I only have two legs! -DianAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Diana jumped over a rock as she continued running, trying not to lose sight of Akko swinging back and forth in the air. In her hand she held onto not one, but _two_ wands, having picked up the second in a panic when Akko had been snatched up in a split-second minutes prior. Her instinctual reflexes had immediately caused her to cast a transformation spell for flight, but due to the odd mechanics of the forest that even she had yet to understand, it didn't take long for her to plummet back down into the ground. Quickly she had tried another transformation spell for speed, but, again, she found herself tripped and back on the ground into a puddle of mud.

Onto her next plan, Diana stashed away Akko's wand into her belt, pointing her own at the largest harpy that held Akko. "Ignis!" She shot out a blast of fire.

Akko screamed as the harpy effortlessly dodged, swinging Akko close to the blast with no regard for the safety of its meal. All of the harpies ignored the disruption, continuing on their path as if the fire were just a minor pest in their day to day lives.

"Who taught you how to aim?!"

"IGNIS!" Diana shot a bigger blast of fire, now catching the attention of the rest of the flock as the heat of the flame grazed against their feathers. The main harpy dodged again in surprise as the blast singed a part of its wing, releasing Akko from its grip as it screeched in panic.

Akko flailed around as she fell towards the floor, Diana in preparation to cast a spell to catch her before then. But before she could, the same monstrously sized harpy swooped down at impeccable speed, wrapping both of its talons around Akko's entire body and flying off. "DIANAAAAAAAAA!"

Diana could feel her body burn from exhaustion and her pace was noticeably slower as their distance increased. Akko was still screaming and kicking her legs, trying to fight off the harpy to no avail. Why did this happen?!

* * *

' _Hey Diana. Wouldn't it be funny if one of us was suddenly snatched away right after making a promise?"_

" _No. Why would you say that?"_

" _Oh. Of course that won't happen because we-!"_

* * *

Diana shook her head at the memory, reminding herself she could be annoyed and lecture Akko about it later. Akko's luck either ranged between extremely lucky or the worst luck in all of existence without much of an in-between, so she wasn't sure why Akko decided to gamble her fate with her words, _especially_ with the way the forest seemed to work against them. Scratch that, she wasn't sure Akko's decisions on anything really…

She could see Akko getting farther away, the thick branches of the trees above her blocking her view. If it weren't for Akko's constant yelling and arguing at a creature that likely had no understanding of what she was saying, she was sure to have misplaced them already. But every time a patch of sky appeared overhead, she could see at least one of the smaller harpies in the flock, and she hoped they were all headed in the same direction.

Keeping up the fastest yet most realistic pace she could handle in long distance, Diana kept going, cursing at her 'weak' body for not being able to keep up a sprint. If it had been her instead that was taken away, Akko would surely still be right under the large harpy and perhaps have gotten her down in no time at all. Though… she certainly wouldn't have _dropped her wand_ like Akko, and perhaps would be able to get down herself because of it.

But it wasn't her that was captured. And now, she has Akko's wand, leaving Akko defenseless without magic. Truly one of the worst circumstances of the situation… "Akko!"

* * *

Akko thrashed around in the grips of the harpy, trying to bend over to try to bite at one of the toes and gnaw it off. Anytime she moved, the hold on her would only tighten and it got to the point that she could barely breathe. "Let me go you ugly bird lady thing!"

She looked at the forest below her, seeing the masses of trees pass by as they flew. Surprisingly from the height, in the very far distance she could barely see a silhouette of what looked like a tower, shrouded by mist. While it was still a long journey ahead, Diana and she had actually been going the right way after escaping the telepathy box. Akko didn't understand how their scenery could change so drastically after each of the boxes so far, but the tall hedge maze they had fought the flower in was nowhere in sight. She also wasn't sure how Diana was even navigating in this circumstance, but that was a topic for a different crisis…

Unfortunately, the harpies were flying the complete opposite direction of the tower, putting their progress traveled back by an hour or two at least. Instead what got closer was a tall, overhanging cliff, decorated with multiple caves and holes in its side where the smaller harpies entered and exited from. Akko guessed they were reaching the nesting area with the mass of harpies buzzing in all directions, and she panicked believing she was about to enter a dark harpy infested cave where she would meet her eventual doom.

"DIANAAAAA!" Akko scanned the forest floor, having lost track of Diana a while ago. Diana did always complain about how loud she was, so she put it to the advantage and kept screaming to make sure she was being heard. If Diana couldn't reach her in time, surely some other annoyed creature would come to fight all of these bird monsters to shut her up? Right?

While all of the smaller harpies in the flock dove into their respective nesting cave, similar to a hierarchy depending on their size and number, the one holding her instead swerved upward in a steep incline, heading towards the top of the cliff instead. She could see what looked like a normal bird's nest, except it was incredibly scaled up in size to take over the whole edge. The 'twigs' that would make up a normal nest were instead a range of branches and logs to accommodate the build. Screaming again, the harpy threw her down into the nest where she landed on a pile of broken eggshells.

Akko groaned as she carefully picked herself up, plucking the sharp eggshells out of her hair and listening to the large harpy fly overhead and instead rest against the other side of the nest. It was just watching her now, but she was grateful it didn't just swallow her whole and get it over with.

Blinking a few times, Akko stretched her limbs to remove the tenseness they had built up during the trip and looked around, surprised to find a handful of large black abysses staring straight back at her. Her breath hitched as a few of them cocked their heads to the side, and she dared not to make sudden movements.

Akko looked up at the mother harpy, perched against an edge of the nest seemingly watching to make sure she wasn't going to run. It didn't seem to think too much of her capabilities, picking at the singe mark on its wing with disinterest. In front of her was a crowd of smaller harpies, almost her size except for their feather-less, pink-colored wings making them larger in width. A few of them hardly had their eyes open yet, but their beady eyeballs could still be seen through their transparent lids. They just looked like naked, deformed humans with beaks, staring at her with their soulless faces.

Akko slowly stepped backwards, wincing at the crunch of shells beneath her feet that caused the baby harpies to cock their interested heads to the other side. She was truthfully about to cry with how ugly they were and sweat as the front few stepped forwards towards her. Any time she stepped back they would all get closer.

Eventually her back hit the wall of the nest, and she put up her fists in defense as a last option. "C'mon! I can take you all on! Bring it on!" She feigned confidence, getting into a battle stance as they stepped closer. Glancing around for a route to escape and then back to the mother harpy eyeing her intentions, Akko bit her tongue and sniffed away her tears, hyping herself up with words of encouragement. These are baby _birds_! What can they do to an almost-fully-grown human?! Granted, they are her size, but…

The first one screeched, opening its beak and tucking its arm-wings to its side, charging forward for a bite.

Akko was quicker than the baby harpy though, dodging and socking the harpy in the face. She grinned and cheered, waving her hand to ease the pain of hitting a rather rock-hard beak. When it fell to the floor and squirmed, the mother harpy cried out in anger, flapping its large wings to get the attention of the nest. The rest of the baby harpies cried back in unison, this time all charging at Akko at once while the mother watched.

"Come at me!" Akko believed in herself and punched harpy after harpy, unsure if it was because the baby harpies had no coordination, or if she was just that good as a harpy slayer (not that any of them have died yet though).

Eventually one was able to nip at her vest while she was punching another, dragging her down and forcing her to lose her balance. They were a lot stronger than they looked, despite their imbalance as infants. This left an opening for the other harpies, and one snatched onto her boot and one on her hair. She kept fighting, kicking and thrashing trying to hit their eyes as a few tore at her clothes and clamped at her skin. There were harpy beaks stabbing all around her, and she instead resorted to protecting her face with her arms, crying out in pain with each prod.

Akko wasn't sure how long she was able to hold out, but now she instead focused on ensuring the harpies wouldn't take out her eyes like she did them.

Was she going to die? By a bunch of naked baby human-birds?

Minute after minute, it took a single explosion for them to stop, and, thankfully, all of the harpies tilted their head to the side again in awe, watching as a mass of black smoke rose to the sky.

Akko peeked out from under her arms, feeling a vibration as another explosion was set off below. The shells in the nest rattled against each other, and she could hear many panicked screeches of the grown harpies of the cliff as their wings flapped below. For some reason, it excited her, and she felt safe despite the bloodthirsty crowd nearly tearing her apart a second ago.

They were just dumbly staring at the smoke as the mother harpy instead slowly spread her wings in preparation, listening to the alarms of the others.

There were no more explosions then, but the harpies continued screeching and scrambling.

The baby harpies seemed fixated on a certain spot in the air, almost as if they were hypnotized with interest and would never move. From the depths of the smoke where they looked up towards were two small sparkles of green, immediately followed by the command "IMPETUS TEMPESTATIS!" The green shone an even brighter light, and Akko covered her eyes as a massive gust of wind blasted straight through the nest, sending the mother harpy flinging far back into the dirt of the cliff and the babies slammed against the nest's far walls.

Akko never thought she'd see the day that something could bedazzle her as much as the Shiny Chariot show that she attended all those years ago. Diana's wind spell had blasted away the smoke as well, leaving her open and suspended in the air. Her expression serious, focused, yet calm, radiating an intense amount of confidence considering the situation that only made Akko stop breathing.

Akko smiled in relief at Diana preparing to land, wielding _both_ wands that she used for her spell. Her feet glowed a near white color, and Akko was sure it was one of the leg strengthening spells that Professor Ursula had taught her about. But aside from that, catching Akko's attention and confusion, there was a faint blue glow that outlined Diana's entire body that disappeared as soon as Diana landed in the nest.

Diana stared down at her dumbfounded face, her eyebrow slightly twitching as Akko stared back with mouth agape, "Get up." She grabbed Akko's arm and pulled her up, handing her the respective wand just as a countless number of harpies flew up into the air in pursuit, angrily cawing at her. She didn't bother turning around at the danger, knowing exactly what was following behind. "We're leaving!"

"What did you do?!" Akko screamed as the swarm circled around them in the air, staring back at them as Diana yanked her forward into a run. "You have a plan right?! Please tell me you have a plan!"

"Don't doubt me, Akko!"

They jumped over the confused baby harpies still trying to gather their surroundings and out the nest, heading down the cliff away from the crowd and cliffside. In front of them was the large mother harpy that had snatched Akko up in the first place, getting up from the ground with an enraged glare. It gave a bellowing screech, flapping its large wings at them and slowing them down with its gusts of strength alone.

Diana veered them to the side, dodging the harpy as well as they continued further down the cliff. She knew that harpies were known for their incredible speed, so it was only a matter of time until any of the harpies decided to grab them again. Her eyes darted all over the layout of the forest, looking for something that she knew would save them.

The mother harpy charged first, diving forward with its talons open, reaching for Akko again who was following behind Diana. This time Akko timed the attack, snarling at the bird hybrid as she jumped in the air and spun with one of her legs out, kicking the harpy square in the face and sending it back into the floor.

Diana just turned and blinked at her, "…You're aware you have your wand, yes?"

"Yeah, well, that thing was pissing me off!" Akko triumphantly fist pumped, beaming at her perfect counterattack even if the side of her foot was now throbbing.

Diana shook her head, focusing back on her task as the other harpies took the place of the bigger one. She could sense Akko's thrill to want to kick another one, hoping to find what she needed before Akko broke her foot. It was the weird engravings on a boulder ahead that caught her attention, too intricate to be natural that she knew it couldn't be mistaken. She headed straight for it, and just as they passed Diana bent down and brushed her hand against the marking.

Akko watched her curiously, turning back to the mark as it began to shine a bright blue. She grinned, realizing what it was as the ground shook.

They watched their feet as the earthquake stopped, a harpy diving forward and just barely missing both by the hair as they fell into a sudden pit below.

* * *

"You look like a mess."

" _Forgive_ _me_ for not _freshening up_ while you became feed…"

Diana sighed as she ran her hand through her hair to put it back into place, carefully unbuttoning her vest at the same time. She then took it off and handed it over.

Akko subconsciously took it, but just stared in confusion. "Why are you stripping?"

Diana's eyebrow twitched with annoyance, "I'm _not_. Have you even looked at yourself, Akko?"

Akko looked down at her tattered clothes that the harpies had torn through. Her vest just barely hanging on by the threads to each other with most of it missing. Her white undershirt faired a little better, but there were still gaping tears that exposed a large portion of her stomach, which she now guessed was what the harpies were aiming for. There were punctures all over her body, mainly her arms and legs from her defensive fetal position, and she shivered thinking about what would had happened had she not protected herself. Akko accepted the vest without another word, taking off her own sad excuse of a vest and handing it over for Diana to store away in the backpack.

"I apologize for being unable to heal you right now…" Diana said, handing over a healing potion that she fished out of her backpack. "That was a bit too much excitement at once." She laughed dryly, leaning her head against the wall as Akko gulped down the potion.

Akko watched as Diana delicately folded up her sleeves to her elbows as if it mattered how 'professional' it looked. She could feel the potion take effect, but it more just relieved her of being tired with minor speeding up of her body's efforts to heal the cuts. Part of her became upset at the thought, internally wishing for Diana to take care of her instead. "It's okay. It was honestly healing just seeing you show up like a showoff."

"Showoff?"

" _Really?_ The duel-wielding? The emerging from smoke? The giant blast of wind? The _explosions_?!"

"That's just using my resources."

Akko rolled her eyes, carefully buttoning Diana's vest on. It didn't fit her as well as her original one did, and she wasn't sure what a simple _vest_ would do in regard to defense, but since it faintly smelled like Diana did before they were forced to roll around in mud and swim in a lake, she felt strangely comforted and enjoyed wearing it. "What spell were you using when you showed up?" She asked, remembering the blue surrounding glow that she hadn't seen used before.

Diana eyed her curiously, as if surprised Akko bothered to ask and potentially learn, "The wind spell was 'Impetus tempestatis,' which I had picked up from Professor Ursula earlier. I used a leg enhancement spell to scale the cliff, and I used minor explosion spells to remove harpies from my path."

"And the blue glow-y body spell?"

"…I'm sorry?"

"Yeah, you had some blue glow-y spell going on that was surrounding your body. Is it some super power up spell? A confidence or cool booster spell? Because lemme tell ya, you looked _way too cool_ for that to be natural!"

Diana looked confused, trying to understand what Akko meant by going through her understanding of the spells she had used and their potential aftereffects. Akko's weird emphasis and descriptions weren't helping, so she did her best to picture herself in Akko's position and Akko's mind. Suddenly, her eyebrows raised in surprise at the realization, staring at Akko's eager face with slight pride, "It's my mana."

Akko blinked a few times to give herself time to make sure she heard correctly, "Eh? Your mana?"

Diana nodded, "Truthfully, I'm a little bewildered. Normally you would have to be able to see your own mana before someone else's... I'm not sure entirely if there has been a case such as this until now." She pondered at the thought, studying Akko carefully with a hum, "But since it is you… I honestly can't say I'm very surprised." And she provided a small smile to express her delight. "Congratulations."

Akko blanked, just staring at a loss. "I-I did it?"

Diana nodded again.

Akko stared at her hands, then back at Diana's smile. Slowly the corners of her mouth upturned into a massive grin, and excitement took over, "I DID IT!" She got up to dance and cheer. "I saw your mana! I really thought it was some high-level skill that I'd never get to, but I did it! Your mana is blue! Your mana is blue! Your-"

Akko froze, processing her cheer in her head as if her mouth and words were must faster than her brain. She slowly eyed Diana and squinted, "Your mana is _blue_?"

"It leans a little into green." Diana said nonchalantly. "Perhaps aquamarine?"

"Yeah, _barely_!"

"Why are you angry…?"

"You said the spectrum goes from red to violet- or -or white! You _also_ said most of the students fall into yellow and green _and_ that the older students are green and _lean. into. blue_!"

"I'm very glad to hear that you do listen to what I tell you." Diana brushed aside the rising emotion that Akko revealed, digging around in her backpack for a water bottle. She handed it over, and while Akko was caught up in her disbelief, she took it from her anyway.

Akko took a sip of the water bottle without breaking eye-contact, squinting some more, "You know what? I'm not as surprised as I thought I was." She took another drink, passing the bottle back with a satisfied gasp. "I just wanna know how much more I need to catch up to you!"

Diana looked at her rather uncomfortably, but shrugged, "With hard work I'm sure you will be able to get to blue yourself."

"Uh huh, so I'm _definitely_ not blue. And from the way you're looking at me I'm probably not fully green either _or_ leaning into blue." Akko studied Diana's face for more hints, but was unable to read anything as Diana ignored her and drank some water as well. She looked back at her own hands, clenching her fists and puffing out her cheeks as she gave them a hard stare. Her face began to turn red as she concentrated, holding her breath and making a weird 'hhhhhng' sound.

She only stopped at the sudden choke and sounds of moving water, looking up at Diana turned away with her mouth in her arm as she coughed. Akko raised an eyebrow but couldn't help but burst out laughing at Diana simultaneously choking yet trying not to laugh too. "Please tell me my mana!" Akko clapped her hands together in a praying pose and bowed.

Diana shook her head no, still coughing and holding back a grin. "It will be more rewarding for you to find out yourself."

"That's just your way of making fun of me!"

"How rude… You really shouldn't expect everything to be handed to you, Akko… Success is defined by the work you put in. - Also, I wouldn't say _making fun_ , but it is enjoyable."

Akko waved her off, already used to the random scolding life lessons and banter. She seemed to lose interest in the subject, walking over to a nearby door in the small room they currently rested in.

Like before, a rune had been activated and sent them down another slide into a rather cramped rectangular box. Unlike the last two trials, there was now at least a normal wooden door that they could look towards and have a sense of direction, but they both decided to take a small break before fidgeting with whatever trap the door would reveal. She put a hand under her chin, reading the very faint and small scratched English words on the door. "If you harm the statues, you will die."

Diana listened to Akko read from where she sat, wincing as she got up herself and walked over.

"Do you want me to carry you…?"

"No, thank you. Even I have pride." Diana brushed her fingers along the engraving, studying the withered wooden door that wouldn't be strong enough to stand against the slightest amount of brute force. If there really were something dangerous enough to kill them on the other side, it could effortlessly break through the frail door and attack. But… that's not how the forest _worked_ , and she sighed.

Akko slowly reached for the doorknob, waiting for Diana's approval before she turned it and pulled open, cringing at the creaking and squeaking noise that the door made.

Inside the room was pitch black, except for a small dim light at the far other end.

They glanced at each other, as if telepathically communicating about their next move.

"Can you cast a light spell?" Diana asked, unmoving towards her own wand.

Akko nodded, understanding Diana's precautions with how many strong spells Diana had used since the beginning of their trip. Until she was able to willingly see both her and Diana's mana, she wasn't sure how much mana they had and how much spells cost to use _especially_ at the extent that Diana used them. Part of her wanted to worry, but she was aware Diana knew more about this than anybody, and she trusted her.

Holding up her wand, Akko held it into the room where the glow from her light began to illuminate a small area. It still wasn't enough to see anything significant, but at the very least they could see the floor.

"Focus on it, Akko." Diana coached her, "Relax."

Akko took a deep breath at the instructions, doing her best to focus her energy towards her wand. The light slowly grew brighter, just enough to be able to see the feet of the supposed statues from their sides. The pathway towards the exit didn't seem obstructed, but already they could see a couple of statues legs carefully and evenly lined up a few feet apart from each other at the start, and with that knowledge, they supposed there were statues lined up all the way to the end, like a hallway of statues up for display. But that was no matter. The rules stated not to harm the statues, and it didn't seem like there were any statues in their way anyway.

Akko looked back at Diana, unable to make the light any brighter. "Should we go?" She asked.

Diana looked troubled, unable to figure out if there was a catch. But she nodded, sighing as she took the first step forward into the room, Akko following with the light.

They walked slow, anticipating the unexpected as they passed each statue lined up one after another. Diana kept her eyes forward, carefully looking side to side at the statues, but mainly focusing on their path. On the other hand, Akko was curiously looking all around the room, waving her wand around to get a better look.

"Ooooo."

"Akko…" Diana was forced to stop walking when her source of light moved to the side from its wielder getting distracted. She turned around and sighed at Akko standing in front of one of the statues shining her light to get a better look. "Don't touch anything." Diana sternly warned.

"I just wanted to look at it!"

The statue was of a cloaked figure with its arms crossed and tucked away in its sleeves. Its face wasn't a face at all, but instead a mask most known as the Comedy mask in theater. It gave an eerie smile, dark pits of its eyes turned upward as it stared down at them. Akko shone the light around the statues face, watching as the shadows moved around seemingly changing the structure. She placed the light straight under the chin of the mask, shivering at the distorted look it gave off, but laughed. "Look at this guy!"

"Stop messing around." Diana grabbed Akko's arm, pulling her away from the statue. "We're going."

"Okay, okay…!"

When they turned back around, Diana marched towards the light of the exit, keeping her grip on Akko's wrist to avoid another distraction. Though, Akko was already willingly following, so her hold was nothing more but for comfort. She grew nervous the more they walked, struggling with the thought that the statues were really just statues and nothing more. Back to eyeing the statues they would pass, a small itch in her mind kept telling her something was now… _off_. But what was it?

Subconsciously pulling Akko along with her, Diana started walking a bit diagonally to get a better look at all the statues from their left as they moved forward. Curiously, her eyes alone were able to pick up something distinct about them, and she realized what was bothering her.

They weren't evenly lined up anymore.

"Diana? I think I hear something."

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure… It's kinda like a scraping…? …noise?"

Diana didn't speak, focusing on her ears to listen. How Akko was able to pick up the sound with how faint it was, she wouldn't know, but it was there, unchanging in its volume, and with her focus she could hear it. She looked back at the misplaced statues in front of her, not seeing anything that could indicate they were the culprits making the noise.

Akko, again, was studying one of the statues who instead had the Tragedy mask of theater. It frowned at them but was not doing anything to take of note.

With the sound's lack of change, it didn't indicate that anything was moving. Surely if something was approaching them the sound would only get louder and unmistakable. But since Diana could barely hear it at all no matter how much time passed, it only confused her mind and spiked alarm. She forcefully pulled Akko back away from the statue, keeping her close as thousands of thoughts passed through her head. The frowning statue just continued staring, now shrouded more in the darkness with Akko's light further away.

What was that sound? A distraction? It was like it was purposely playing with them, knowing they would never be able to figure it out. …But maybe that was it? A trick?

The word 'trick' played in her mind over and over, only getting louder as if her thoughts were screaming at her to notice. It took a final 'scream' of panic in her thoughts for her instinct to overdrive, and Diana immediately whipped them both around to meet face to face with the same Mask of Comedy from much earlier smiling at them about an arm's length away.

Akko jumped at the sudden action, screaming from the scare and latching onto Diana's arm. "What the HELL?!" How long had the statue been following them?

They were shaking from the surprise, waiting for the statue to keep moving and attack, but it oddly wouldn't. It just stood there with its grin, arms still hidden in its sleeves.

Akko carefully lifted her wand closer to it to see, wincing from anticipation that the statue would make a sudden movement. With the light reaching farther in range, they could see that behind the statue were all the other statues that they had already passed, as if they had moved together in a crowd. They were smiling and frowning at them with their alternative masks, but like the statue in front of them, they were unmoving, as if they had always been in those positions from the start.

Diana still was in panic as, although they had identified a major problem, the sound had not stopped. The scraping continued, and it unnerved her of what it could mean.

Then, there was another sound. Behind them was a small familiar ' _shing'_ of some sort of sword, and Diana jerked back around. She froze in her spot, feeling a blade against her neck barely touching, but abnormally sharp enough to cut.

Diana held her breath, staring straight into the dark frowning eyes of the dagger's holder as a small amount of blood traveled down the blade with a single droplet splattering onto the floor.

But it didn't move to behead her. The statue in question staying perfectly still.

"Diana!"

"Turn back around!"

Akko moved to help her but was promptly shut down. She squeaked at the command, but obeyed, spinning back around to the smiling mask who, too, had unsheathed a dagger from its sleeve while she wasn't looking. It was slightly closer along with the crowd behind it, grinning wide that she could imagine it laughing.

Diana and Akko stood back to back, staring at their respective statues that didn't waver. Nobody moved.

The scraping noise did not stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've officially caught up with the ffnet release meaning that from this point on, unless I write it, we are stuck at no updates LOL I'm so sorry chapter 7 has got me a in a rut.


	7. Give Me a Minute

Diana took a deep breath, slowly removing her neck from the blade without breaking eye contact. The Mask of Tragedy statue did not move, perfect in its position and form that it appeared she had walked into the dagger herself. She could feel the spot sting but did her best to ignore it as her hand blindly reached back to grab the hand she had accidentally let go of.

Akko gently squeezed her hand to reassure her, and they stood closer together as their backs pressed against the other. “You know? This reminds me of a game I used to play on my DS.” She whispered thoughtfully; her voice seemingly unconcerned after the new revelation.

“Is this really the time?”

“Yes. But instead of statues they were ghosts. -And I think we gotta go now.”

They took a step to the side, away from the blade that had nearly cut Diana apart. The scraping noise was still active, but neither of them dared to look away from the armed statues.

“Explain this game of yours? And this… D…S?” Diana asked, slightly out of breath from just the amount of suspense alone.

They took another step to the side, hardly in sync and nearly tripping over each other’s feet.

“Well, the DS isn’t important, but it’s this game console that you can carry everywhere with you and it has two screens and it’s really cool. I haven’t touched it in years, obviously, because it’s an old machine and there’s new-“

“Akko, _the game_.”

“Ah, right! So, there’s this puzzle, right, where you get to look around for coins which you need to collect in a level because it gives you this power star. By the way, this power star is for-”

“ _Akko._ ”

“ _Anyway,_ so there’s these ghosts that come to kill you and you can’t kill them because they’re ghosts! But! The trick is that when you look at them, they get scared and stop moving. So, the key to getting around them is to always be looking at all of them and make your exit!”

Diana put her hand to her chin in thought, “Always be looking at them…” She muttered to herself, as if only confirming her suspicions to be true.

This was a problem. They didn’t know how many statues were in the room and where anymore, and with the dull scraping noise still constant, it was proof they were missing statues in their view despite facing both ways. In a much larger party with multiple pairs of eyes, this trial would have been a breeze. But with only the two of them left to fend for themselves, a plan had to be made and quick.

“What if we spin? Like a spinning top!”

“If we were capable of spinning that quick, we would see nothing.”

“A spinning top, but in slow motion!”

With the two back in the middle of the room, they continued sidestepping their way to the exit. Diana’s hand wavered over her wand, debating the benefits of lighting up the whole room while Akko couldn’t. She steadied her breathing, her eyes darting fast in every direction she could.

Akko, on the other hand, was waving her wand around high in the air to reach as much surface area as she could with her light.

“Watch your step _.”_

“What do you mean ‘ _watch my step’?_ ! I don’t even know where _you’re_ going! -Ow!”

“…Sorry… -Ow- _Akko.”_

“Sorry, sorry!”

With each step forward the two still occasionally stumbled over each other’s feet. It didn’t help that they _were_ actually spinning, trying to keep all of the statues in their view and avoid any sudden surprises. Any time they turned, the statues just briefly out of both of their views were suddenly closer. There were the occasional scrapes of metal being unsheathed, but the two were quick to listen, looking each perpetrator directly into their hallowed pits of eyes in alarm. And now with the statues scattered around in random places, the pathway to the exit was no longer straight, forcing them to shuffle around statue after statue to keep moving.

“What if we just run for it?”

“We don’t know how fast they move and running could make it worse-”

“EEK” There was another sudden scrape of a sword and Akko immediately jerked to the side. She could see the handful of strings of her hair float in the air where the blade had just swiped through during her dodge, and she gripped the hand she was holding onto much harder.

Diana gasped at the sudden movement, fighting the urge to turn around and make sure Akko wasn’t hurt, “Akko! Are you okay?!” She could feel the other hand trembling, holding onto it in comfort as their spinning motion let her see the culprit that had attacked.

A statue with the Mask of Comedy was slightly crouched, frozen in its ending position with its attack of a dagger. It somehow looked disappointed that it had missed, as it had been hidden perfectly in their blind spot and could have easily taken them both out if it had not been for Akko’s quick movement.

“I-I’m okay…!” Akko calmed herself, “Just surprised me is all!”

But it was concerning, how quick that statue was able to sneak up on them when all the others had not before. In fact, all of the statues were suddenly much closer than before, as if now even the speed of a blink allowed them forward.

Holding onto Akko’s hand firmly, Diana hastened their speed towards the exit, stopping their random turns and spins. The light of the doorway was getting closer, and Akko’s aura of light was just a few feet away from where the door’s radius of light was able to reach. Just like how the telepathy box ended the moment they exited the room, Diana bet their safety on how quickly they would be able to step foot right outside the door.

There were a few statues left in front of them facing in their direction, their masks unseen as the door’s light reflected against their backs causing their fronts to be shrouded in darkness. But at the least, they were visible, and Diana knew exactly where they were. “Okay, we’re running for it.”

“What – We are?! I know it was my idea but-!”

“Once we can pass the ones in front of us, it’s only a matter of both of us walking backwards towards the exit.”

“Uh, o-okay!”

“There are six I can see in front of us. They are lined up in a horizontal wall with the three on our right much closer than the three on our left. With this in mind, they are the safest bet of which direction to take.”

Diana scanned the statues in her view, judging the safest and quickest route for their exit. With her peripheral vision, the ones more to their sides were kept in check, but their blind spot directly perpendicular to them could not be watched without one of them turning their heads.

But if she knew where the ones in front of them were… then it was a matter of timing when she should look left or right and risk the movement of the ones before them. “On the count of three…” Her eyes darted to the left at a dagger pointed in their direction.

“One…” Their footsteps slightly hastened, less cautious as they were before with impatience eating through their thoughts. Diana watched the statues before them, seeing all six begin to tremble despite them all being directly in her view. 

Her plan was silently thrown out to avoid alarm at the new predicament as she tried to quickly conjure up a new one. “Two…”

Now it was Akko who was trembling, slightly yelping as she watched the same phenomenon happen with all the statues behind them. This was not at all like it was a few seconds ago. The closer they got to the door, the more she began to realize.

They were all shaking.

They were all _moving._

“THREE!” Akko screamed the last number, yanking Diana’s arm forward as she took the lead. Her eyes targeted one thing only: the doorway.

There was a unanimous sound of scrapes of metal from the remaining statues that had yet to unsheathe their weapons, the six in front of them included.

“AKKO!” Diana stumbled after her, looking quickly in all directions to confirm the truth they both had realized. Even when looking at a mask directly in the eyes, the statue continued to move forward, and she had no choice but to throw away the last ounce of caution and run with all her might.

Surely if the statues made proper noises, the scraping of their bases would be frighteningly deafening the closer they skid. But perhaps… it was actually most tormenting to hear almost nothing, save for the rapid clicks of their own boots and their haphazard breaths, knowing that just behind them were the dozens of monsters ready to slice off their heads.

All six statues in front of the room were aiming right for them, pointing their daggers and charging in a walled formation. Both of their eyes widened in panic, unable to stop their pace with the statues behind not lagging in their attack either. In just a second, they would be crushed, smashed between both walls of statues, and stabbed to their deaths.

Before Diana could blink, Akko spun her forward, tackling her down with a dive and shielding Diana’s head in her chest as they slammed into the floor.

There was a massively loud crack in the vast room, and it felt as if everything had come to a standstill.

Stunned, Diana lay there on the floor in the rather long second that felt as if time had suddenly slowed down, Akko squeezing her hard and shaking more than she had done the entire trip. Her eye peeked out of Akko’s hold, finding the source of the loud cracking noise that set her back to reality.

Somehow, Akko had dove the two of them between an opening of two of the statues in front of them, and the six statues, moving too fast to reasonably react, had crashed into the wall of statues coming from behind them. All of the statues that had crashed exhibited large cracks throughout their bodies, and were no longer moving.

 _If you harm the statues, you will die._ The sign at the entrance of the room played through her mind, and she was sure that if it had not been over then, then it would surely be over now. But despite her choices to get up and shake Akko’s senses back into the world as they both ran to the exit; they were not killed nor did anything otherworldly come to finish them off for good.

While the remaining statues did chase after them again, by then they had successfully made their way out of the box.

* * *

“Akko… How did you predict that?”

“P-Predict what?”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. Somehow, you had known that while we could not harm the statues, there was no rule stating they could not harm each other.”

“…Known…? Rule…?”

Diana gave her a dubious look.

“O-Oh! Yeah! That’s _definitely_ what happened! I guessed that all along!”

“But there was no guarantee that loopholes exist in this forest. So you were _again_ gambling on luck to succeed.” Diana momentarily appeared a bit frustrated, but her thoughts seemed to weigh the options and she only sighed, “I suppose at least this time you were not risking your own life on an incredulous plan, and our options were rather limited anyway.” She nodded in affirmation, “Thank you for your quick thinking and actions.”

Akko blinked a few times as Diana’s attention returned to the map. Normally, she would be quick to accept any sort of praise that came from Diana, but since exiting the box she had felt rather… off. Despite what Diana had thought, the second they were to be crushed between the statues, Akko had thought absolutely nothing at all. Her body had moved on its own accord and she was still recovering from the adrenaline even then.

Since exiting the statue box, the two had continued their journey in silence, both shaken up after the fact and numbly moving forward. They faced an odd predicament where at random times, either of them would hear a dull scraping noise much like they heard constantly with the statues, only nothing was around. It was finally disappearing once Diana sat them down for a short break.

Akko’s eyes trailed across Diana’s focused face, landing on her neck. The cut Diana had been given earlier was slightly stained in red, and Akko was quick to take out her wand and cast a healing spell. “Ah…” Instead of completely disappearing like she hoped, the cut only appeared lighter, but at least had stopped bleeding.

Diana gingerly touched the spot without looking away from the map, “You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to…”

“I see… thank you.”

It was silent again.

Diana occasionally would glance over, until finally she sighed and stowed away the map. “What’s wrong?” Her full attention was given to Akko, doing her best to express her sincerity and concern, “You’ve been quiet. Not that you haven’t been quiet before, surprisingly, but it feels rather… distant.” She was watching Akko for body language, waiting for the response in any form.

Akko picked up on the lighthearted jab and then the voice of genuine concern, unsure how to answer. Truthfully, she didn’t know what was wrong with herself either. She was more zoned out than usual, except this time there was nothing in her head to zone out with. All she knew was that Diana’s eyes, full of life and color, made her want to cry.

And so cry she did.

Diana was surprised at the sudden outburst, carefully offering open arms.

Akko was slow to move, putting her arms around Diana and burying her face into her shoulder as she wailed. This wasn’t at all like the times she had cried before during their trip. It was much deeper than that, slicing through the depths of her heart that she tried to hide to prevent a complete breakdown. It was all too much. _Everything_ was too much.

And that last box had pushed her to her limit where, for just a moment, she had truly believed she would never see Diana again.

Diana… her friends… her professors…

It was one thing being able to handle her own near death experiences _over_ and _over_ and _over_ , but handling Diana, who was in the same situation and had the same experiences, _over_ and _over_ and _over_ made her almost wish she had gone on this journey alone.

She continued to sob, holding tightly onto Diana’s body as all the pent-up emotions she hid under the guise of her upbeat attitude spilled out at once. Slowly, her cry began to soften, and she was able to mumble the words, “I’m _scared_.”

There was a short pause, but Akko could feel Diana’s tense body tremble at her words as Diana’s arms held her back just a little tighter. And, while it was almost too quiet, surprisingly, Diana began to cry in return. “I am too…”

For just a moment, it was as if the forest did not exist. Perhaps this was all just a dream, and they were actually safe at home with the faces of their friends to greet them.

The two cried in each other’s arms, letting everything go, walls and all. While it was not wise, for a small gap in time, they both finally understood what it meant to relax. No energy was spent putting up a front or pretending to be strong, and even if the moment would possibly never happen again, they were free.

Eventually, both of their cries came to a halt, and they reluctantly released themselves from the hold. Still, their hands were touching, as if letting go would mean forever. But realizing their rather close intimacy, both walls were built back up, and their awareness of their surroundings returned as the noises of the forest filled the air. 

Though this time, they felt refreshed, ready to move forward and continue without the sudden need to explode. Perhaps the walls were softer this time as well, or maybe instead had a single door for the occasional entry.

Seeing the messy swollen eyes on each other’s faces, they awkwardly smiled and shyly looked away.

“We’re almost there.” Diana spoke first with a slight cough. “I’ve checked the map and we have already made it halfway through the forest.”

Akko nodded along, trying to dry her own eyes. She took a deep breath, “A lot more of _those_ to go then, huh?”

“Afraid so.”

“...Alright.” Akko quickly stood up, giving an energized stretch as she worked her muscles. Turning back down to Diana, she held out her hand and grinned, “Let’s go then.”

Diana smiled back and took the hand, hoisting herself up with the added help.

Even though Akko had pondered doing the quest alone to guarantee Diana’s safety, she knew for a fact that if either of them had been alone, there was no possible way for them to have made it thus far. Both of their collaborations had moved them forward trial after trial, and if she had been alone she surely would have given up long ago. They absolutely needed each other.

And she never thought it was limited to the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyway moving on fuckin finally
> 
> Big thank you to dianacavendishisgay on tumblr for being my beta and helping me decide where things were a lil wonky


	8. Thalassa

“Oh…”

“There doesn’t seem to be a way around it.”

“Well, now what?”

After stowing the map back into her backpack, Diana put her hand to her chin in thought, calculating their next move. She stood there, staring straight ahead at the trees in the distance.

Just barely a foot away from her boots, small ripples of unnaturally dark water lightly crashed against the mud of the ground, back and forth in a monotone pattern. It was quiet, but, oddly, peaceful, as if they had been invited to that very spot and could stay there forever.

The two were standing against the bank of the river. Only, the river was not a river at all for the water was still without movement in either of the length-wide directions. But it did not feel right to label it a lake due to its structure, and so they opted to call it a river just for ease in speech.

If not for the tiny splashes of water by their feet, it would have felt as if they had been captured in a photo or a painting and the world was completely still. With the midday sun high overhead, the trees and even the water were glistening brightly in the strong light, vibrant and full of color. The smell was damp, but not at all unpleasant, and there was no other word to describe what they saw other than the word ‘beautiful.’ And perhaps if they had not been in a dangerous forest with the threat of death looming behind every tree, Diana would have imagined that spot as their own special area- “AKKO!”

Akko frantically emerged her head out of the water as Diana marched to where she had been kneeling, quickly standing up in the face of trouble. “Wh-!“

“Don’t. _DO THAT!”_ Diana glared hard at Akko’s face completely soaked, holding back the urge to grab Akko’s shoulders and aggressively shake her. “I’ve already warned you _once_ about sticking your head into unfamiliar liquids!”

“I was just-!”

“ _No_!” Seeing Akko’s facial expression switch through multiple emotions and thoughts ranging from annoyance to concern, Diana took a deep breath and relaxed her body, moving her hands over her own eyes and lightly pressing to lower her headache. Did they really have to fight about everything? 

“Please…” She mumbled, turning away to avoid a potential argument.

Akko watched her with guilt as Diana calmed down enough to appear back to normal. Diana never had to beg her not to do something, and so Akko gingerly reached for Diana’s arm to get her attention. “O-Okay… I’m sorry…” When Diana finally looked back at her, she didn’t hesitate to say, “I promise I won’t do it again...”

Diana studied her face and words and sighed. She could not continue being angry with Akko’s ashamed look, almost feeling guilty herself for being the one to yell. While she believed she was in the right, Akko never was trying to do anything to directly upset her. But even so… If Akko’s first instinct for random bodies of water is to stick her face into it, then that habit needed to be stopped before some ‘body of water’ was not water at all.

Because there was nothing she could do about it now, Diana accepted the apology and trusted the words Akko spoke. “So?” She started, deciding not to waste their new information over her spurt of annoyance, “What did you see in there?”

Smiling, Akko excitedly announced, “Nothing!”

“Nothing…?”

“Yeah! It’s really weird! Just right in front of us the ground just plummets like a cliff all the way down. You can’t see the bottom either. It’s like a dark pit of nothing.”

“It’s like that all throughout the river…?”

“Yeah. There’s no fish or anything either, if you were wondering. I think it’s safe to swim across.”

Diana was back to thinking again. As with everything else in the forest, it just didn’t feel right. But, again, as with everything else in the forest, they usually couldn’t figure anything out until they had started. Any moment they had let their guard down, the forest would be quick to ensure their shields were put up much stronger than before. “If it can be done,” Diana eyed the river and Akko still soaking wet, “I would like to avoid making contact with the water as much as possible.” She decided, figuring out their next steps from there.

The chances the forest would allow them to completely fly over was highly unlikely. Not only that, but it would require using magic. Or, more specifically, _herself_ using magic.

Diana focused and gauged her available mana deep inside her body, sighing at the outcome. While she still had enough for it to not be of immediate warning, non-life-saving spells were no longer an option. But…

Her eyes glanced back at Akko who was now patiently waiting for her to command what to do. Akko smiled brightly when their eyes met, curious and unsure what Diana may have been thinking.

Akko’s mana…

“I’d also prefer to avoid using my magic. What do you suppose we do?” Diana asked.

Akko was taken aback by the sudden switch in leadership. With Diana genuinely looking at her and waiting, she began pondering different plans that Diana may have been accepting of. She didn’t want to be scolded or have to argue, and so Akko filed through random ideas that were seemingly Diana-like. Unable to come up with anything in fear of rejection, Akko increasingly grew anxious and opted to respond that she didn’t know.

But staring into Diana’s eyes, she had come to realize Diana really was depending on _her_ and _her ideas,_ and anything involving them had to be fair game.

And so, she grinned.

* * *

“Akko, I hate this.”

“You wouldn’t if you just stayed still!”

“I am as still as I can be.”

“Looking around the water is _not_ staying still.”

One step at a time, Akko trudged along directly on top of the motionless water. She walked as if attempting to escape thick mud pulling her down as her boots sunk about a few inches deep with each movement forward until being magically stopped on an invisible platform. The wand in her hand was glowing a constant green as she kept up her slightly faulty water-walking spell, and both of her arms were bent by her sides, holding steady a pair of legs.

“Besides, it’s _your fault_ for letting me choose.”

“Yes, I suppose it is…”

Diana sighed, holding on to Akko’s neck as Akko kept a constant pace forward. She did her best not to accidentally strangle her from her position on Akko’s back, also keeping in mind her weight distribution. While it didn’t matter with Akko’s questionable strength, she had never done something like this before even in her childhood. And as embarrassed as she was, Akko _did_ meet all her demands and so there was no room to complain. Not only that, but even with Akko’s slow pace, they had made good distance in reasonable time, just reaching the halfway point, and it would not be too much longer until they reached the other side.

Though she did not want to admit it, this _was_ a really good idea...

“WhoA-!”

As if to take back all of Diana’s internal compliments and dilemmas, Akko tripped forward, and a large splash followed as they both fell in.

“Akko…!”

They emerged immediately out of the murky water, wiping their faces and swimming in place to recover from the sudden surprise. Diana could only give a long and heavy sigh, questioning all of her decisions as she waited for a response.

“It wasn’t me!” Akko checked the wand in her hand, knowing that she had not lost concentration during her spell casting for it to have stopped. While the spell was now over with them completely submerged in the river, her wand was still active, signifying it had not been the forest to magically stop her either. She could only sheepishly smile at Diana squinting at her, knowing she did not have a valid excuse to defend herself.

“Well, if it wasn’t you then-mMF!“ Diana plummeted into the dark water below. 

“Diana-!” Akko gasped, not wasting a second to dive in after her.

Not seeing Diana immediately, Akko looked around in the deep water for her partner and was able to spot Diana already a few feet below being further dragged down by a handful of new creatures. Two were latched onto her arms, while a third held Diana’s mouth and neck, pulling her down in a headlock. The creatures’ lower halves were a tail like a fish, but their upper halves seemed completely human as all of them were bare-chested and the most beautiful women Akko had ever seen. From her knowledge, she had to guess they were probably mermaids.

While the three of them were pulling Diana lower, others only swam in circles and swarmed waiting for an opening as they giggled and laughed and watched. Diana was doing what she could to resist, fighting against them and attempting to reach for her wand and swim back up. Her eyes were large in panic, and Akko could just barely hear the muffled screams of her name.

Akko was quick to move, swimming down as fast as she could and pointing her wand at the group. She waited until she was close enough to properly aim and chanted, “Murowa!” blasting nearby Diana’s location to avoid accidentally hitting her.

The mermaids squirmed as the minor shockwave rippled through the water, moving akin to normal fish when faced with a sudden movement. Diana was freed then, rushing to reach her arm out for Akko to take and pull her out.

Successfully linking hands, Akko immediately began the swim back up. While the swarm was prompt to return, their upper halves that had once been beautifully human-like were now instead some sort of ugly fish combination monstrosity. They had snake-like tongues that slithered and hissed, and Akko wondered that perhaps they had not been mermaids after all. The anger of the creatures seemed directed at her and only her, and Akko did her best to ignore them as the fish monsters circled and waited. 

Just before reaching the surface, Akko jolted backwards and accidentally let go from the force when Diana was yanked back down. Two of the fish monsters clung onto Diana’s backpack and the others swarmed Akko instead, continuing their hissing at her to stay back.

Diana kicked and pulled at them as she again began to descend.

Trying to swim back down, Akko was repeatedly stopped as the remaining fish monsters swatted at her with their tails and blocked her with their bodies. She wasn’t sure why they had no interest in dragging her down as well, but her attention was only on freeing Diana as she could see Diana’s wand begin to light up in green.

“MUROWA!” Akko chanted again, shooting directly towards Diana’s location regardless of what creature blocked her path.

They instead moved out of the way at the blast of energy, and the sudden frantic movement of the two abductors combined with Diana’s attempts of escape tore through the straps of the already tattered backpack, releasing her from the object at once. Akko was swift to grab Diana’s arm, pulling her back up (despite the puzzling resistance) and out into the air.

When they both emerged gasping for breath, Diana quickly yelled, “Akko, the _map_!” before immediately diving back down before Akko could stop her.

Again, Akko dived back in, seeing Diana already far down in the water fighting to open the backpack in the hands of five mermaid monsters. Diana and the monsters were already sunk much farther than they were before as both sides battled for the sole backpack with Diana greatly outnumbered.

Deeper and deeper they sank, and just as Akko was about to cast another spell even if she wasn’t close enough to aim properly at all, the creatures dispersed in all directions, tearing the backpack apart to shreds along with them as they left and disappeared. Diana grabbed the two pieces of paper that briefly floated, storing them in her tucked button-up shirt.

Confused about the sudden action of the creatures, both looked around for the source, their eyes trailing down at the remaining backpack’s contents as they fell into the deep abyss below. 

The sound they heard was melancholy, singing throughout the chasm loud enough for all in the river to hear. It cried out into the deserted space, echoing against the walls as the water that was once stagnant slowly began to sway. 

Particularly, it was the bright green of a healing potion that focused their vision as it gently sunk towards the origin of the song. Directly below them in the depths of the bottomless canyon was a massively large shadow, too far to make out its exact details except for its incredible length. It moved exceedingly slow, slithering back and forth like a soft wave as it sang its melody and listened for its return, hovering in that single spot in the darkness of the river.

Diana could only look up for a brief second before it charged up.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chap to make way for the thicc next one and have a nice cliff hanger (yes they are sirens but like adapted for this story)
> 
> big thanks to dianacavendishisgay on tumblr for reading it first and leaving amusing random comments that make me happy about my work enough to post it i love u bubs


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